The Flames Of Memory
by Mist.Filled.Eyes
Summary: Gaara and Sasuke barely survive a fire, a fire that takes the Kage building down with it. As Gaara slides into a coma Sasuke is left to fend off Konoha ANBU and find the rogue arsonist that tried to kill the Kazekage and his shadow guard.
1. Catching fire

Hello, this is my first author's note in a story, I'm not exactly sure about the rating seeing as there may or may not be a lemon at the end of this one. It won't be long, but I'm suffering from a bit of a block on my other story _Crossing Our Boundries_ so I figured I'd write out this little thing and get my muse going again.

Good day to you and happy reading........

..Eyes.

* * *

Heat, pain of these Gaara was drastically aware. The fire burned hot at his back and he bit back a cry of pain. The flames licked at Gaara's nightshirt and he felt it falling off. Gaara knew that the material on it meant it wouldn't last long so he quickly jerked it off and placed it in front of his nose and mouth to block some of the smoke.

He cried out softly when a burning picture tumbled off the wall and caught on his arm. He glanced down through the smoking air and barely managed to see the burn mark on his arm, he flinched swiftly in torture when he thought of Sasuke's location, so many more things to fall down. Gaara focused, trying to expand more chakra to keep things up, but feeling too drained to succeed more then keeping the still connected beams from tumbling onto them.

"Sasuke!" Gaara yelled, the fire was consuming the building, and stealing the air itself from his lungs. He heard Sasuke coughing and ran towards it, a beam from the ceiling kept them divided. The two had struggled through the hall and made it to the middle. Now it was just this frigging beam. Gaara slammed his shoulder into it to try and shove it loose, but the embers burning white hot on the offending object didn't allow him enough time to do anything worthwhile.

"Gaara?" Sasuke managed to scream above the crackling. Both men cried out in pain and fright when the beam popped and the flames grew exponentially," Where are you?"

"Hallway just outside the office," Gaara coughed and dropped to his knees, he'd been screaming and breathing too deeply the smoke was getting to his head. His lips felt dry and painful everytime he moved them, but to make sure Sasuke was still responding he would ignore it. He heard fabric shuffling then Sasuke's coughing stopped," 'Suke?"

"I'm okay, I'm coming to get you, you stay awake for me, keep talking Gaara," He heard Sasuke mutter a jutsu and the smoke dissipated around the Uchiha, being sucked into the whirlwind he was creating with chakra. Sasuke tensed up and leaped above the flames finding Gaara unconscious on the floor. Sasuke dove and grabbed him.

Adrenaline has Sasuke's system running high, but fright wanted it to run low. Torn between exhaustion and startlingly awake, Sasuke made do with what he had. Remotely he was surprised that the building hadn't come down on them already. If that happened then...Sasuke stopped his thoughts, best not to think of the worse case scenario.

"Gaara? Gaara! Gaara, you gotta wake up right now," Sasuke pleaded and grabbed Gaara's shoulders, jolting his hand back when he felt torn muscle and warm sticky blood Sasuke leaned his ear over Gaara's mouth and listened, but when he couldn't hear Gaara breathing, Sasuke almost felt his heart stop. But then a gasp and Gaara opened his already blacked-out eyes.

"'Suke," his voice was hoarse and he coughed like he couldn't breath. Sasuke bent, pressed his mouth against Gaara's and quickly breathed once for him. Gaara tried to clear his throat and forced himself to his feet," Let's get the hell out of here."

Through some windows, ones that were only 3/4s of the way blocked by smoke and fire, the duo could see shinobi casting jutsus and trying to soak the flames down. Gaara had one arm around Sasuke's waist and the other on the wall, feeling for hot and cold to track the fire. The two of them were on the top floor, Gaara's office the fire had originated from somewhere in the middle towards the 3rd floor. Trapping the Kazekage and his lover upstairs. Sasuke had been on one side of the floor getting tea, Gaara was on the other side doing paperwork. The two met in the middle and were trying desperately to get to the stairs. Praying they weren't blocked by fire.

Sasuke hissed when the smoke made his eyes well up. His lungs burnt uncomfortably whenever he breathed, but he knew that the feeling of pain was better then being killed by this goddamn fire. Sasuke almost made to snicker, a Uchiha, a fire-dancer killed by his own element.

"Gaara you have to keep talking to me okay," Sasuke pleaded loudly over the popping flame and both of them turned, stared at each and gasped," The helium."

Temari and Kankuro had thrown Gaara a party for his 23rd birthday a week ago, a month late but none of them cared. The helium had been stored in the kitchen until Gaara's family got back from Konoha, they were supposed to come back in two days. Helium exploded when heated so when the Kazekage and his shadow guard heard the whistling in the kitchen both of them hit the deck. Gaara dove atop Sasuke and screamed when the explosion rocked back against his bare back.

Gaara's senses felt like they were burnt out completely, only barely managing to keep his eyes open. Everything felt heavy and very badly Gaara just wanted to lie down. Knowing that that was the smoke talking, not him, Gaara ignored it and glanced downwards relief filling his remaining senses when he saw Sasuke was okay. His side had been exposed, but nothing that could kill him.

"Gaara?" Sasuke exclaimed loudly and stood back up, pulling his friend to his feet. He noticed the back of his jeans on fire and quickly used a wind jutsu to blow it out, turning he continued blowing to clear a path for he and his boyfriend.

Sasuke heard the shinobi yelling their names as they managed to arrive on the first floor," H-HELP!"

"Sasuke-san are you okay?" An ANBU kicked down a door and the team faced the two. Gaara was unconscious now, breath coming in short, wheezing gasps. Sasuke was seeing double, burns running down and up his arm. Sasuke's side was burnt to the point he couldn't feel it anymore and suddenly all the air in the world didn't seem like enough to satisfy his burning lungs.

"N-no," Sasuke fell forwards, slumping into unconsciousness himself as an ANBU caught both him and the Kazekage. Pain shot through his side and arm when an ANBU jostled him the wrong way. Sasuke just barely heard them calling out that they had been found before he couldn't hear anymore. His vision faded to black and he barely saw Gaara's smoke covered face twist in pain when someone brushed his back.

.

Sasuke awoke a day later in the hospital. The soft sensation of the sheets was a welcome one, nothing like Gaara's bed, but definitely better then burning wood. The lights were too bright for his injured eyes and the constant and consistent beeping in his ear was incredibly annoying. He breathed deeply - feeling grateful he could - and immediately heard a familiar voice talking.

"Sasuke, this is Sakura Haruno, I'm taking care of you," The voice from his past was almost a relief, then memory that no one from Konoha could know he was alive and well in Suna made him jolt awake. He felt a hand clamp down on his wrist and cried out in surprise and pleading. If Sasuke was a prisoner, there was no way he'd ever see Gaara again. Plus Gaara would be forced to step down as Kazekage for harboring a fugitive from law.

"Where's Gaara, I need to talk to him," Sasuke forced himself to sit up and throw his legs over the bedside," Get off me!"

The grasp on his wrist tightened and his onyx gaze quickly followed hand to shoulder and shoulder to face. He turned to face the bed beside him, the source of the hand. He was surprised to see how close they were together, even more so to see Gaara lying in the bed. His bright azure eyes were half asleep and half-open. He dove off the bed and stood beside Gaara's, barely registering the feeling of two hands grabbing his sides to keep him steady.

"'Suke?" Gaara's voice was so quiet, Sasuke had to strain to hear it and the effort made Gaara's bottom lip crack and bleed. Immediately Sasuke's thumb rubbed it off and he felt like praying with how overjoyed he was that Gaara survived.

"I'm here, oh god Gaara," Sasuke knelt beside the bed and moved Gaara's grip to his hand. He squeezed lightly to let Gaara know he was there and turned to face Sakura. Standing behind her was another familiar face, a nurse named Laili, she took care of the boys everytime either one was in those white halls, coming off her vacation once to do so.. Sasuke paused then figured his pride was worth less then Gaara," Sakura I'm pleading with you, let me stay until he wakes up then I swear I'll come willingly."

"Sasuke," Sakura approached on Gaara's other side and quickly checked over the needles in Gaara's arms," if I was here to arrest you, you'd be arrested now. I'm here because one of Naruto's best friends is lying unconscious in a hospital because he was trapped in a burning building. Someone set a fire in the building and tried to kill the both of you. Gaara suffered 3rd degree burns on his back, chest and legs. I brought a team of medics here from Konoha. We worked on him as much as their chakra could allow before passing out. I was on the team Sasuke, we did the best we could after...

"Until he's healed up and capable of explaining why it looks like he lied to Naruto, I have a blind eye for your face. If he has a really good reason for why you are standing here begging to be at his side then my blind eye will keep itself up long enough to forget I ever saw you. I am the only healer outside of Gaara's medical team allowed knowing you are alive," Sakura smiled slightly when Gaara opened his eyes enough to see.

"Sakura," Gaara was bleary for a second then his eyes shot open and he gasped," Sasuke," then yelled out in pain. Sasuke flinched and quickly sat beside Gaara on the bed.

"Gaara, I'm here," Sasuke bent and whispered in his ear," I need you to please stay down."

Sasuke stepped away and looked over his friend with an assessing eye. Obviously the medical team had fixed Gaara's legs up seeing as he had jeans on. His abs and chest were a mess. Black and red meshed in ways Gaara wouldn't even been able to appreciate, Sasuke didn't look any closer and didn't dare ask about the condition of Gaara's back. It had only gotten burned protecting him. Gaara's chin and a bit of his cheek was a helluva lot darker then normal, almost black but with a small bit more gray mixed it. Wherever it wasn't burnt it was ashen and worn, Gaara looked so tired, so sick.

A cursory glance down at himself forced him to notice, he was healed, clean and fine. Not a single burn, cut or bruise on him. His jeans were new and he was perfect in everyway. Which somehow, made him madder.

He rounded on Sakura with fire in his eyes. Sharingon inches from swirling angrily.

"Why am I okay? Why am I awake, he should have been the top priority, not me! Why is the Kazekage in a bed in agony when the wanted man isn't?"

Sasuke's temper kicked itself into overdrive at the idea of his health being 100% when Gaara's was probably down near 25%. He kept one hand wrapped in Gaara's but the other turned into a fist. Leaving the Kazekage vulnerable like this was stupid, and the idiot who allowed it was in for it, any assassin could simply call themselves a healer and walk in. Gaara wouldn't be able to stop them.

"Because Gaara ordered it, he woke up as we were putting him in emergency, he caught a glimpse of you outside waiting and stood up. He barked for us to heal you first or that he'd do it himself, his chakra was already dismal so we obeyed, grudgingly," Sakura quickly explained.

_Oh, total Gaara._Sasuke thought bitterly, if Gaara knew Sasuke wasn't okay then the stubborn man would definitely summon up the gumption to bark an order or two at the nearest person. Sasuke studied Sakura as she went to put a needle in Gaara's arm.

"If those are painkillers, then don't. He hates painkillers they give him nightmares and don't work on him, they only make the pain worse," Sasuke sighed. Gaara groaned softly and Sasuke caressed his cheek affectionately.

"'Suke."

.

.

"I don't understand you, when the helium blew you jumped over me and got barbecued to protect me. Half unconscious you were still feeling the wall, checking for flames by pulsing your pathetic amounts of chakra through the walls. I asked where the rest of it was and a team of ANBU told me that the building was being held up by a normally impossible amount of chakra. You couldn't keep everything up, but you could keep it from collapsing in around us. Sakura said she hadn't seen someone other then you expend that much chakra ever. The only other time she'd seen that level of chakra loss, you were killed by Akatsuki," Sasuke shook his head," I don't understand why you did, but thank you."

Sasuke bent and kissed Gaara's cheek softly. The white hospital room seemed to suffocate him almost as much as the smoke had. More so in fact, because he was healthy. Gaara wasn't getting any better though. The nurses talked to Sasuke about Gaara's condition often, seeing as he was the only one with the time to care. There was talk about how his immune system was failing.

Gaara's system seemed to be shutting itself down, regressing further and further into the abyss. His lung failed every once in a while, so the nurses taught Sasuke how to reopen his airway without killing him.

Temari and Kankuro were both busy trying to run the country and keep them calm. Sasuke consulted with them once in a while when they needed someone who could remember everything Gaara ever said about running a country. 'It's not a duty, it's a gift.' Sasuke almost scoffed, being Kazekage had probably just put Gaara at Death's door.

_Well you can't have him_, Sasuke grumbled silently, Death wasn't getting his redhead, not yet. Sasuke couldn't resist the urge to check Gaara's vitals, too many times had he been the one to start CPR when Gaara stopped breathing momentarily. According to Sakura, Gaara's lungs weren't dispelling the smoke inside them, changing him from someone who never smoked a day in his life to a lifetime smoker.

The fire. Sasuke knew it wasn't an accident, and the building had been empty except Gaara and himself. Meaning someone wanted the two of them dead, specifically. Not surprising, Gaara had a thousand enemies, and all of them knew that his shadow guard was always with him. Whether or not they knew that the shadow guard was someone as dedicated, as patient as an avenger, that was a different story entirely. Sasuke doubted it.

One free hand slipped up his bare back and rubbed the too-tense muscles there. He and Gaara would normally be sparring all their nerves out right now, but neither one of them could manage to do so. Gaara wasn't supposed to wake up anytime, and Sasuke couldn't go outside without letting everyone know everything he knew. Think of a story, tell it to 50 people tell another 50 and we'll see just whether or not you want to ever hear the words you spoke again.

Sasuke dragged the only chair in the room to Gaara's bed, sitting down and resting his head on his arms. Sleep was just about to claim him for the first time since he woke up 23 hours ago, when suddenly the chair was gone, he was pressed to the wall and something cold was clapping around his wrist.

Sasuke's eyes snapped opened and he raised his waist, kicking out and sending an ANBU flying. Sasuke kneeled over him and examined his village symbol. Leaf. Oh no, Konoha! Sasuke dove and rolled underneath Gaara's bed, bringing the chain onto his stomach as he lifted himself off the floor.

Breathing slowly and inaudibly Sasuke forced himself not to panic. Panicking would get him caught and then he'd never see Gaara again.

"Sasuke come out here now," Naruto's voice. Well if that wasn't incentive to hide for his life, then Sasuke didn't know what was. Sasuke gripped the bed tighter then cried out in anger when two arms wrapped around his waist and jerked him out, an ANBU snatched one arm, his partner grabbing the other. Both of them jolted his arms up hard enough to come dangerously close to dislocating his shoulders. Sasuke dropped down to his knees to relieve the pressure building up and growled when a shackle clicked around his other wrist.

"If you two idiots don't get off me right now, I'll suffocate you," Sasuke would never really do that anymore, but he had to look like nothing changed until Gaara woke up. To show just how serious he was, he focused his chakra and began sucking the air out from the room. Naruto frowned and motioned his ANBU away. Once Sasuke wasn't being touched anymore, the air came back and Sasuke backed himself up and away from the Konoha shinobi.

The Hokage of the Land of Fire did not look impressed, he looked slightly peeved and Sasuke merely scowled. Anger coloured his opinions, so Sasuke kept them to himself. Better to keep your mouth shut, then say something stupid and disappear. Leaving Gaara alone. Naruto ran a hand through his hair and mussed it happily.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I did not expect to see you sitting beside Gaara's bed when I got here," Naruto sighed, dragged Sasuke's unused bed closer and sat on it. He crossed his legs and drummed his fingers on one. His other hand reached out and barely brushed the sleeping Kazekage's face.

Gaara gasped and started in his sleep and Sasuke launched forwards, slamming into two ANBU forcing him back," Gaara," he damn near yelled the name and shoved against the ANBU," Get off me you idiots!"

"You've changed Sasuke," Naruto murmured and frowned. The Hokage seemed to age ten years before Sasuke's eyes, then another 15 when Sasuke glanced around and knocked each and every ANBU out. He walked to Gaara's side and murmured softly in his ear.

"I need you, please wake up," he made sure to speak so softly that Naruto wouldn't be able to hear him, try explaining to your first friend that you're in love with the guy who tried to kill you as a child. Sasuke figured he'd leave that one up to Gaara when he woke up. Gaara arched in pain and hissed. Sasuke immediately recognized it as a nightmare.

Normally when Gaara was having a nightmare, Sasuke would lie with him, careful not to touch anything that was deemed to be in pain according to Gaara's head, and quietly remind the redhead that he needed him, that his people needed him, that his country needed him. With Naruto sitting right there, those three small words were all Sasuke could spare.

"Look at that, you're still the Ice Prince. Or at least his body is still around, it's the soul that's changed," Naruto looked exhausted and Sasuke frowned.

"Will you get these things off me, it makes it very hard to move and I'm only a threat to you if you try to kill Gaara," Sasuke gasped when the blood flow restarted to his hands after Naruto removed the shackles," Why are you here Naruto?"

Why are you messing everything up for me? Why do I have everything to gain and all it takes is a snap from you to lose it? Why is this happening? Why was a pretty popular word rolling around inside Sasuke's head. There was a million questions but for Naruto he had the one he was able to voice, the only question that gave nothing of his relationship with Gaara away.

"The Kazekage is in a coma, until he wakes up someone has to run the country, his brother and sister have taken the job. But the country itself is saying that there's only one person close enough to Gaara to have the know-how to run the country the same way he did. This mysterious Shadow guard. No one will answer me on his or hers identity but they say if I call him, he'll come. I'm doing so tonight, going to the remains of the Kage building and calling for him. I hope he comes, he appears to be our only link to Gaara's head," Naruto sighed and stretched.

"He'll come, the Shadow guard is loyal, but only to Gaara. One of the nurses told me about him, said he would never leave the Kazekage's side unless he knew for certain that Gaara was in capable hands," Sasuke shrugged, it was difficult talking about himself in the third person," Evidently I'm capable."

Sasuke walked to the bathroom and splashed water on his face. Shit, he'd have to make a clone of himself, and sneak out. Not too hard he assumed, but Naruto would be having the place watched. Sasuke walked back, pushing the water into his hair, and checked Gaara's vitals.

"Since when are you so OCD," Naruto joked," Since I've walked into this hospital you've checked Gaara's vitals once every 20 minutes. I didn't know you could be so...obsessive," Naruto quirked a smile and Sasuke couldn't stop the chuckle escaping him. Laughing was something he hadn't done since the fire, it felt good to know humor still lived in the world, but was merely eluding Sasuke for the moment.

"I don't know, since the fire. Gaara got hurt and when I got here he was having a nightmare," Part truth, he'd awoken to the whimpers," I walked in and just put one hand on him and he calmed. Nurses couldn't explain it, they figured the guy who kidnapped him would get a worse reaction. Instead it got to the point where no one but me could calm him down."

Naruto chuckled back, the idea of Sasuke Uchiha the Ice Prince managing to calm down Gaara. It was like the lion being tamed by the flipping kitten. Naruto broke out in a wide smile at his own analogy.

"What are you grinning about," Sasuke smiled ruefully as they began falling into old habits, old behaviour patterns. Patterns that had made Sasuke run away from home.

_Nooo, I'm not leaving Suna just cause he's here_, Sasuke strengthened his resolve on the idea that he wasn't going anywhere by staring down at Gaara.

Naruto stood, scruffed Sasuke's hair and walked out. Didn't say a word, merely walked out. Sasuke puzzled then very quickly gathered up the shackles and clinked them onto Naruto's ANBU running into the hall and yelling," Hey Naruto."

Then he threw one end of the chain," They're your ANBU, not Gaara's, they should be with you," Sasuke smiled jokingly.

.

.

The hours passed and Sasuke spent it planning. His escape from Suna General wouldn't be easy, a quick walk showed him 6 ANBU watching the building. One on every side of the building to see every exit. Luckily, Sasuke had friends in the hospital who could get him out.

Laili Summers was an amazing woman. Kind of short but her punch packed a wallop. Her spiky blue hair and bright sky blue eyes made her look remotely pixie like but that was a joke among friends. She was curvy and gorgeous, not Sasuke's type but a sight to see. She walked with pride and determination down the hall. Too bad she wasn't going to reach her destination.

"Laili, we need to talk," Sasuke quickly yanked her into Gaara's room and sat her in the chair," I'm climbing the damn walls in this joint, and Naruto is going to summon the shadow guard tonight. I need to get out of here, but Naruto is having the building watched. Can you help me," Sasuke blurted everything at once, knowing that Laili preferred it that way.

"Anything else?"

"Gaara's throat closed today, about 2 hours ago, I reopened it without any difficulty and he's back to normal, someone upped his pains meds because his nightmare's are coming more frequently. He's having like phantom agony wherever he got burned and it's freaking me out. I don't want to leave him alone, so I'm leaving a clone and I'd really like it if you could possibly watch him until I get back I'm sure he'd appreciate it," Sasuke breathed in and nodded," Yea that's it."

"Excellent, well there's a squad leaving tonight around 4 o'clock to go to the cemetery, from there you're on your own. I can definitely watch Gaara, I've only been doing it to both of you ever since you showed up," She kissed his cheek and he hugged her gently.

"Thank you Laili, you've no idea how much I owe you," He sighed and ran out into the hall. Watching the clocks tick closer to 4. He dove into the loading bay, quickly spotting the squadron then smirking when he recognized a mask," Matsuri!"

Matsuri had been Gaara's first ever student when he was 13. Matsuri said that even though she was always afraid of blades, Gaara had taught her to use the fear on her enemies, teach them to fear her blade. Sure enough she was an ANBU by the time she was 17. Not bad. She was good too, an excellent defensive and offensive striker, also incredible at rescue and escape mission.

"Sasuke," Matsuri rounded and Sasuke ran forwards," What are you doing here?"

"Naruto is summoning the shadow guard tonight and I have to escape the hospital without his ANBU recognizing me. Can I steal a uniform and mask, come with you guys to the cemetery then take off," Sasuke quirked an eyebrow and smirked when she yelled at a ANBU to go get a second set of clothes and a mask. When the ANBU appeared Sasuke quickly tugged on the uniform, feeling a sinking and annoying wave of nostalgia wash over him. He had wore an ANBU uniform when he first arrived but took it off when he couldn't risk his mask coming off.

Sasuke fell into rank under the captain and ran in the back, keeping his pace even with the rest of the team and arriving at the cemetery without being stopped," Thank you Matsuri," He quickly one-arm hugged her and passed her the uniform, throwing his black cloak over himself and tugged up the hood.

"We'll be here for 2 hours Sasuke, be back before then or find another way back into the hospital.

Sasuke ran along the rooftops making it to the burned Kage building in record time. Staring at the ruins brought back flashed Sasuke didn't want to see.

_Gaara wasn't breathing, and Sasuke's heart leaped to his throat ceasing to beat for a moment..._

Sasuke shook his head, ruffling the fabric atop his head and waited. For an hour nothing happened, but on the hour mark Naruto showed up, a squad of ANBU at his heels.

"I need to speak with the shadow guard! If you can hear me, please show yourself," Naruto yelled and Sasuke dissipated, appearing before Naruto he bowed slowly.

A sly smile creeped across his lips as the night winds blew his cloak out, the hood staying in place by chakra, but the genjutsu he had set up around his body was funny. Hinata would proud of how well he mimicked her frame, using different clothes however to highlight different areas.

Sasuke knew his voice would be recognized so he changed it, completely. Switching genders he adopted a voice torn between how Laili's sounded and how Matsuri's sounded.

"Hokage-sama," He smirked when Naruto's eyebrows raced for his hairline," Were you expecting someone else?"

He couldn't resist the jab, Naruto just looked so startled. Naruto shook his head and began talking," No one besides you has worked close enough to Gaara to know how to work this country the same way. The people trust you and they need a leader they can trust. I've been charged with the duty of asking you; will you take the Kazekage's responsibilities until he awakens?"

"No, but I will consult with the family, I'll tell Temari and Kankuro what to do and remain in the dark. The people will know I'm there for them," Sasuke bowed again and disappeared.

I think that was deep enough, Sasuke smirked to himself as he ran back to the cemetery, put the ANBU clothing back on and ran back to the hospital with the team. Arriving at the hospital he stripped it off again and hugged Matsuri.

"God I owe you, thanks Matsuri," He ran back into the white hallways and waved to Matsuri as he did so. The former student looked remotely startled by called back that he was welcome.

Sasuke dashed upstairs throwing open Gaara's door. When he got there, Gaara wasn't there. Neither was Laili.

"Gaara? Laili?"


	2. Still Waters

Sasuke dashed into the hallway, eyes hunting for the nearest doctor. When he found none, he fell onto his back-up plan. Skidding down the hall he sprinted for the lobby. The desk could page Sakura, Sakura could take him to Gaara and it would be fine - Sasuke reassured himself under the idea that Laili was one tough broad.

Twisting hallways, doadging stretchers and nurses for a shinobi this was no problem. Though Sasuke probably did cause some heartattacks when he took to running on the ceiling to cut his time down. When he reached the hallway leading to the lobby he flipped down to the ground and continued running.

_How do you kidnap the Kazekage in the middle of a hospital full of his shinobi? _His temper flared bright for a second, someone tried to kill Gaara and not 2 days later they kidnapped him?

He latched one hand onto the corner and used that to pull himself to a stop," Ginso," he addressed pretty much every nurse or orderly by their name now, he knew everyone so well. Ginso was a full 2 years younger then him, but he worked harder then people older then Sasuke," I need to find Sakura right now please."

Ginso nodded, his head ducking into his frail shoulders when Sasuke spoke to him and scurried off. Ginso, who used to be such a confident guy, got beaten to hell by his own brother - at this Sasuke couldn't help but bristle - and put in the hospital. Gaara and Sasuke spent the whole night talking through what happened with him. The image of a 16 year old kid sobbing in fear whenever someone came too close to him was burned in Sasuke's head.

"Here she comes," Ginso smiled at him softly and Sasuke threw in a small compliment along with his thank you. He knew it came out quickly, and he likely looked at a mess, but Sasuke really couldn't bring himself to care. Gaara had been taken without his knowledge.

The pink haired woman ran into the hall, and seeing Sasuke nodded her understanding, no words were needed. Gaara wasn't in his room, Laili wasn't there either. Panic was running hot, after sitting vigil with Gaara for as long as Sasuke had been, the one time he goes outside Gaara disappears. Sakura figured she'd freak out too.

Sasuke's usually calm composure was invisible, his eyes were bright and hectic, and Sakura could just barely make out a twinge of red underneath that onyx. So beneath all that panic he's mad, Sakura concluded, mad because someone moved Gaara? Why does Sasuke care about Gaara, he's never cared about anyone like this, except maybe Naruto.

"Come with me," she gripped his hand in hers and ran down the hall, Sasuke hot on her heels, keeping up on her right flank, the same place she used to stand when he was the genin leader of their little three-man cell so long ago. They arrived at quarantine and Sakura pointed.

Behind a wall of glass an inch thick, still fast asleep was the Kazekage of Suna, several doctors crowding around him. Sticking needles into his arms, with every prick Sasuke flinched. Immediately Sasuke's gaze flicked to security, two ANBU by the door, and one in the far corner of Gaara's room. Seems safe. Besides all the glass.

Sasuke paled when he looked at Gaara. His lip was bleeding, but it was ripped to shreds, so Sasuke chalked that up to a nightmare. He was thin, even for him. Gaara had began dropping weight really easily when he lost Shukaku, especially when he trained or went on missions. Gaara didn't care, in fact he'd laugh about it and say," Ah well, I suppose I'll just eat like Choji when I get back to Suna."

But now Gaara was thin enough to see his ribs. He was so pale, but he was sweating like he had a fever. Sasuke glanced away for a second, regretting it instantly and turned back.

"What's wrong with him," the question wasn't meant to be voiced, but Sasuke's tired voice, under-used or over-used Sakura wasn't sure, rang out in the deafening silence of the hallway.

Sasuke lifted one hand to the glass and placed it flat. Sakura sighed, gripped his shoulder and shook her head," We don't know."

Sasuke scowled when he saw someone pumping pain meds through Gaara's system," Sakura take him off the morphine. If anything is keeping him asleep that stuff is, and he's healed, he's not in pain except what his head is telling him he's feeling."

Sakura nodded and through the intercom told the nurses not to give Gaara any more morphine. Sasuke thanked her then spotted the beginnings of a nightmare when Gaara's hand tensed into a fist. Even in sleep Gaara seemed to be capable of preparing himself for blow after blow to his already damaged psyche.

In a second Sasuke was inside, having ran through the door and through the security faster then most shinobi ever could. The speed training that Orochimaru and Akatsuki put him through paid off, Sakura thought as she waved the guards off him. Sasuke was at Gaara's side in a second, placing one hand on the redhead's sweat-soaked forehead and murmuring something in his ear. All the nurses stared at Sakura for instruction and she waved them off too.

One of the nurses stumbled back at something and when Sakura threw her a questioning glance she spoke," All that chakra."

Sakura could plainly see that Laili wasn't impressed with Sasuke just running in, yet she wasn't speaking out about it. Murmuring absently, and almost to herself, Sakura voiced a question," What the hell is going on with you Sasuke?"

She didn't expect any answer, and didn't receive one from anyone. She ran one hand through her pink hair and pushed it out of her bangs and tied it back. Her emerald eyes sparkled with questions and curiousty sat brimming on her very fingertips.

Laili ,who had been the first one to scrub down so she could get in to see Gaara and stay with him, approached on Gaara's unoccupied side and began murmuring in his other ear. Laili however unlike Sasuke talked loud enough to be heard.

"Gaara, it's Laili, you're in the hospital right now and it's killing everyone to see you like this. You've got to fight these things off, fight through the nightmares. Where's the confidence I saw when you were young, remember, when you fought Deidara away from the village even at the cost of your life?"

"Gaara, please."

"Gaara, wake up."

"Gaara, fight."

One by one, the nurses inside began calling out to their sleeping leader, and all of them gasped when Gaara's hand relaxed and his face fell into a calm. Sakura hesitated though, was this actually a calm, or merely the calm before the storm?

Sasuke's hand moved, going from Gaara's forehead to Gaara's hand," Please, if you can hear me. Try to tell me, I know you can feel me damnit now prove it," Sasuke finally allowed himself to be heard and then broke into a grin when Gaara squeezed his hand weakly.

"He can feel us at least, or feel us enough to know Sasuke's there," Laili turned to face Sakura with bright, joyful tears in her eyes. Sasuke shook his head however and Laili's face fell.

Sasuke was never kind, and he never would be Sakura thought. He didn't care about people's feelings, Laili had been overjoyed with the idea that Gaara could feel them, Sasuke was just the kind of person to easily dash that hope without a second thought.

"Well that's not it precisely. He can't feel me, he can feel my chakra. I'm routing enough into him to force him to either accept or reject it. Accepting it lets him feel me or my presence, rejecting it forces his system to wake itself up. Obviously, Gaara isn't ready to wake up, so now he can feel_ me _but only me," Sasuke shrugged and quickly stopped a nurse from pulsing her chakra," No, you don't have enough, the amount of chakra I'm routing into him is roughly 86% of yours."

Sakura sighed. Sasuke Uchiha was exactly the kind of man who would risk something as dangerous as a chakra depletion to get someone to be capable of noticing him. Apparently if he was going to attempt it though, he wanted to do it for Gaara. Again the question of why ran straight to Sakura's head. Why was Sasuke trying something as risky as that, for what he didn't mention was that if Gaara's system rejected him Sasuke would be the one in the coma, for _Gaara_?

"Ah, thank you for protecting me Sasuke-san," the nurse smiled and Sasuke almost appeared...embarrassed? He looked away and let his hair fall in his face, sitting on the bed with his back to the woman.

"All I did was state facts," he muttered to himself. Laili smirked and clapped his shoulder. He scoffed at her and scowled, all the while keeping his grip on Gaara's hand," If I may, can you guys clear the room, I need to meditate but I'm not leaving him alone. Seeing as I'm the only one who knows everything about him, right down to the medical stuff. I hope you will accept my opinion that it should be me."

Sakura paused, stared at the last living Uchiha and smiled," You've changed Sasuke," when he looked up confusion - an emotion he never would have shown as a child or teen - was written clearly on his still gorgeous features. Sakura smiled, emotionally Sasuke had changed ( for the better she had to believe ) but physically Sasuke had grown taller, more defined, he was still the Adonis from her childhood ideals.

"Sakura," Sasuke began to question her but she turned and barked for everyone to get out. The question fell on deaf ears when Sasuke finally managed to voice," have I really changed?"

Sasuke grabbed the table normally used for holding bowls, medical tools and blood soaked clothing that put the patients at risk for infection, tugged it to Gaara's bedside and hopped on top of it. He closed his eyes, rested one hand on top of Gaara's bare chest, right where his heart was and began his meditation.

Consciously Sasuke was aware of nothing. Subconsciously Sasuke was aware of everything. Every beat of both his and Gaara's hearts was a drum pounding in his head. Every beep on Gaara's heart monitor rang in his ears like a shrill whistle blown too hard. Every thought on display, every motion too slow. Everything was there. Sasuke always thought that his subconscious mind worked the same way Shikamaru's conscious mind did. Operating on every level instead of one Shikamaru could do everything and nothing at the same time.

Sasuke always thought it was frightening how though he knew he was grounded to the table, he felt as though he was underneath water, the resistance slowing his movements, but making he himself lighter then air, capable of merely drifting through his own mind.

_Everything has to add up somehow..._

_Someone set the fire, how did they go about it...._

_Where in the ruins would the 3rd floors remains be...._

_Gaara please, we work better as a team and I need your guidance right now...._

Sasuke's thoughts spun around him, almost to fast for him to grasp but he reached out and clung to the last thought he heard," Need his guidance?" He faced himself and frowned," What does that mean? I've never needed help before."

In Sasuke's head, he'd created a second him. Not bound by emotion at all, couldn't feel enough of them to be attached. This 'Sasuke' was logic and Sasuke often drew on his own logic to figure out problems.

The person Sasuke had named Uchiha, unable to conjure up a better name for himself smiled smugly," That was before. This is now."

The two of him fell through Sasuke's mind, fell deeper into the water. Ironic that his mind made him feel submerged when his element was just the opposite. He gasped for air and gulped it down when he finally felt he could breath again.

"See this," Uchiha motioned around him," All this? This is why you need the Kazekage. This is the same reason countries need a Kage."

Sasuke looked around, all his memories were whirling around him, slow enough to be seen, but unless you grabbed on, you'd never see the whole memory. Sasuke smiled at one particular memory.

_"Hey you!"_

_"Me?"_

_"No, the guy with the gourd, what's your name."_

_"I am Gaara of Desert, and I'm interested in you too."_

"That's when I first met Gaara, back during the chunnin exams," Sasuke motioned around him with one arm," All this, this is supposed to help me understand? It's not. All I see are my memories. Brief flashes of happiness," Sasuke scowled and stared at Uchiha. The copy gave him an expecting look then groaned when Sasuke said nothing.

"To a country like the Land of Wind, a Kage is a symbol of power, honor, everything that particular country holds dearest to their hearts. For you, the last 4 words are the relevant words, although it comes out a lot more like 'dearest to _your _heart.' Somehow Gaara managed to fight his way through your cynical opinion on relationships and steal for himself a piece of your," Uchiha snickered," ice heart."

"You think I'm in love with Gaara. No way, I've only been dating him for a month, a month and a half at best. No one falls in love in that time span," Sasuke shook his head stubbornly and Uchiha smirked. He hopped up a little and tapped a memory. Taking Sasuke back to when Gaara first brought him away from Konoha.

In the background he could make out the testimonies he heard so long ago, some attesting to his kind heart, his usefulness. Others speaking strongly on the fact that he'd betrayed them once, he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

"How long has it been since then," Uchiha asked, an air of annoyance floating about him at Sasuke's continual blindness.

"7 years when Gaara turned 23. Now, a little over that," Sasuke shrugged then rounded," You mean--"

"Yes baka," Uchiha pushed them both out of the memory," You've been living here for 7 years, did it never occur to you the time that had passed? Did the great Sasuke Uchiha never clue in that perhaps Gaara took you in for a reason he wasn't telling you?"

Sasuke scowled, could Gaara really have liked him all that time? No, not possible. Gaara wasn't like that, yet Sasuke found his own explanation worse then Uchiha's improbable one. Sasuke shook his head and glared back at the mirror image of himself," Help me find out who put him in the hospital."

Uchiha nodded solemnly and focused on that, the two of them moving back to Sasuke's memories of the fire.

"The fire originated on the 3rd floor, in 3 places, the middle and the two ends, not in the staircase - there wasn't anything there to burn - but in front of it. Someone placed them so the building would collapse, it did once you two got out so if that's the case then the fire markers should be strongest," Uchiha floated them above the bird's eye view Sasuke had gotten of the ruins while waiting on Naruto to summon him. Uchiha's hands pointed out the section in the middle but as they shifted to point out the other two Sasuke was awoken from his meditation.

"Sasuke, Temari and Kankuro want to talk to you. Gaara's apartment has been turned into a makeshift office and they're asking for you," Sakura gently shook his shoulder again and Sasuke blinked hazy onyx eyes, waking up from that deep a meditative state was never quick and almost always left Sasuke's head in the clouds. Like coming down from a high you've never tried before, only it happens every time.

Sasuke nodded and stood, swaying slightly, normally he was never awoken, Gaara would vacate his office for hours to let Sasuke meditate, or Sasuke would spend hours sitting with Gaara on the rooftops. So Gaara could watch the sky while Sasuke drifted. Normally, Sasuke would slowly drag himself back to reality and he and Gaara would talk over his revelations - because there usually was one.

Hmm, normality seemed such a far away ideal now. Normal suddenly seemed unattainable; this hospital, every once in a while Sasuke would volunteer here, letting the medics draw on his chakra, would now hold too many memories of an unconscious, burnt Gaara. Not something he ever wanted to relive. Gaara's office had been burnt to the ground. The building couldn't be fixed until Gaara woke up, no one could manipulate the sands into the right form and keep it there long enough to be fixed in place.

"Here," Sakura gripped his head and her hands pulsed green for a moment, suddenly Sasuke's head was quite clear. It was like looking at something normally then through magnifying glasses for a moment before settling back to normal. He smiled and strolled out, Sakura was capable of caring for Gaara. The Kazekage's apartment was his second home, he knew the way to get there from any point in the village. Hell he knew Suna like the back of his hand with the amount of times Gaara and he had gone on walks when he first arrived, walking there was no problem. Plus, he really wanted to see the village again.

"Thanks," he shook his hair back into it's usual place then walked outside. Sasuke very quickly took note that the Konoha ANBU around the building had changed positioning. Evidently Naruto didn't want one guy in the same place for too long - wait no. Not everyone had moved. Just one man. Sasuke turned, focused on the horizon and made eye contact with the one ANBU.

Sasuke took a different exit out of the hospital everytime he left to make sure that using him, you couldn't figure out what room Gaara was in. If someone was moving with him, they had to be able to see him all the time. Through the walls.

There, he smirked, found you Neji Hyuuga. He mouthed," How are you Neji?"

The Hyuuga prodigy seemed not to care if he was recognized or not, because Neji stood and jumped over. He stopped in front of Sasuke and the last Uchiha could almost feel the glare," Sasuke Uchiha. Up to no good I'll assume," Neji began walking with him.

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes, of course he would be stalked every time he left the hospital. Naruto didn't want him taking off again because he got caught. As they walked, Sasuke easily taking point because he knew the city better, he and Neji caught up on old times. It was odd really, if it hadn't been for their pasts Sasuke almost thought that he and Neji could have been great friends. The two young prodigies.

"Sasuke, out of curiousty-"

"Why did I leave," Sasuke finished for him. That question was one that he'd been asked by everyone that had the ability to ask. So he'd had a lot of times to perfect his answer," After what happened with my family I swore to kill my brother. You know that bit. But every step I took towards getting strong enough to kill him, was a step I took away from Naruto and Konoha. Every step I took towards Naruto and Konoha was a step away from my goal.

"I would never ask for anybody's help to do something as dangerous as what I was going to do, so I left. I ran to the one person I knew could make me stronger, Orochimaru was always very much sink-or-swim, without worrying about _any _kind of emotional attachment," Sasuke finished as they reached Gaara's apartment building.

Neji seemed lost in his own thoughts and Sasuke smirked. Tell someone a story like that and see just how long it takes them to sift through what took you years to figure out. Sasuke smiled, bid a quiet goodbye and walked inside.

As he rode the elevator, he thought on what he could remember. Not hard considering the near perfect memory he had, most shinobi did. Most shinobi trained themselves to remember as much as they could. He'd seen Gaara doing the paperwork, helped him out quite a few times as well. Sasuke frowned, formal letters were the one damn thing he couldn't handle because they were usually addressed to the Kazekage and meant for his eyes only.

The elevator dinged softly and broke his concentration, he turned and walked towards Gaara's apartment. Gaara had a home, but he hardly ever spent time here, when he did come here it was to shower, grab a change of clothes and maybe eat if he had time. He'd appreciate that his apartment had a use.

"Hey Sasuke," Kankuro spoke and Sasuke looked up. Kankuro's gruff voice was a welcome change from the chipper nurse's voices. Kankuro and he had managed to form a sort of truce when Sasuke came to Suna. Kankuro and he got along, and if they knew they were going to disagree and knew it was going to end in a fight, one of them stopped," what do you know about paper work?"

"I've been here 7 years. I know enough to handle it, and enough to know that it's the most infuriating thing in the world if you let it build up on you. How is it I know more then you guys when you grew up with the guy?"

"You know more, because we were out on missions, you had the free time to see Gaara doing this stuff because he knew you'd kill yourself if you couldn't do something. Now," Temari emerged from the apartment, ink on her hands a drop on her nose," then you can help us out. Kankuro and I have been sorting through this stuff for the entire night, how the hell you and Gaara stay up for such boring stuff escapes me. It's so dull!"

Sasuke leaned in the doorway and balked at the stacks of paperwork," Christ," he didn't have much else to say. He stole a pen from Temari and began working. He put Temari and Kankuro to work, explaining different sheets and their use. Temari caught on fastest, snatching up a pen and settled herself on a corner of the couch with a book as her desk. Kankuro took a few minutes longer, but leaning over his elder sister's shoulder and watching her do it got him going.

"So, ground rules?"

"Do the paperwork as soon as it comes to you," Temari began in answer to Sasuke. 4 hours later, when Sasuke's hand and wrist were so sore that it could hardly move and his neck had cracked 3 times from going from looking down at paper, to looking up at people again. Sasuke turned and faced Kankuro.

"It you start getting frazzled, really frazzled, stop. Go sit on the roof or go for a run but don't continue if you're driving yourself crazy," Kankuro smirked and clapped him on the shoulder," get your ass back to the hospital and take care of our little brother. We'll handle the country."

Sasuke turned to say goodbye to Temari but froze when she hugged him, leaning up she muttered in his ear," Take care of my baby brother Sasuke. God knows he doesn't need it often, but he does right now," Temari squeezed his ribs softly then released him. Sasuke nodded and walked back.

He whistled a tune that he learned when he showed up here as he walked. God when he showed up, it had been in the middle of the Sakura festival and it was beautiful. Suna was gorgeous, the streets alight with lanterns and candles. The glow made his skin stand out among the far darker pallor of the Suna villagers like a lantern of a different color.

Gaara had stolen a sakura from a basket and he stopped walking in front of a girl. Sasuke instantly had thought she was beautiful, Gaara merely smiled, threaded the sakura into her hair and murmured just loud enough for her friends to hear," On an amazing night, someone as beautiful as you should have something equally beautiful in her hair."

Gaara had kissed her cheek then resumed walking along with Sasuke. Even thought Sasuke had doubted that Gaara even knew he was capable of being as intensely seductive as he had been, Sasuke had chuckled and called him a ladies man as a joke. Gaara had flushed to the ends of his hair promoting many questions from his very interested siblings.

Sasuke turned down an alley and froze. He'd been wandering, now he was standing in front of the ruins of the Kage building. Sasuke flinched at the awful brunt of memory. The Kage building had always left him torn. While Sierra was around they argued here more then anywhere, Gaara's office was here and that was pleasent. The fire, the fire was one of those memories he just wanted to forget.

"Someday he'll realize just what a fool he's been for keeping you so near Sasuke," Sasuke jumped, literally jumping back to put his back against the nearest wall. The awful sentence had been laughed at him during one of his and Sierra's more brutal arguments, but it had sounded like it was actually being spoken. Ever since he heard it, he's been very quietly freaked by the idea of it happening. Of Gaara waking up one morning, calling himself a fool and sending Sasuke away, or worse, sending him to Konoha.

"Gaara isn't a fool. Never has been, though the biggest mistake he ever made was putting that ring on your finger," Sasuke had spat back. For that one she had slapped him. Sierra had been a shinobi before she gotten engaged to Gaara, even her slap packed a punch. He and Sierra had always been good at arguing with each other, though they never let the fights extend to when Gaara was around.

Sasuke shook his head and stopped his pessimistic train of thought. Negative thinking had been the cause of every problem with him, so he figured if he didn't think like that anymore then maybe he could stop the problem before it started. He shoved himself off the wall with a fist and walked back in front of the building.

"While I'm here," he grumbled as he jumped to the remains of the 3rd floor. He flicked on his sharingon and looked down. All around the edges of the building there were chakra signatures, those had to be the ANBU putting out the fire. So the only 3 chakra signatures inside the building had to be his, Gaara's -which would be the strongest considering he used the most - and the arsonist. As Sasuke walked Gaara's chakra assaulted his senses.

Because Gaara used to have Shukaku's spirit inside him, his chakra had been tainted by the demon, so Gaara's chakra - much like Naruto's - would always make him stumble from the evil in it. Naruto's was vicious, but Gaara's was sadistic. So whereas Sasuke was willing to walk into Naruto's head to see Kyuubi. He avoided Shukaku like the plague because he didn't want to hear with the raccoon had to say.

His own chakra was second nature, no difference he barely even noticed it. He could tell where in the ruins was the place where he and Gaara had finally met thought, both their chakra's were stronger then any normal shinobi's so it was obvious.

The third chakra was malicious. Undoubtedly not friendly to him or Gaara, the flashes of anger as they set the fire burned in Sasuke's palm when he picked up a piece of wood. One of the pieces that had been lit up first before the building went up. Sasuke gripped the piece of wood so hard it splintered into his palms as he soaked in the chakra, memorizing everything about it. How the rage felt, how it moved, what it felt like when they used it. If this person ever came within 10 meters. He'd feel it.

Sasuke stared at his hand, blood leaking from the wood chips embedded in his hand. With a frown, he tugged his Suna shinobi headband from around his waist and tied it on his wrist to stop the blood flow. He ran back to the hospital and stole a pair of tweezers from a passing cart, flashing his hand as way of explanation when the nurse protested. He went back into Gaara's room and sat on the bed, using the table he had been meditating on as a mini-operating table.

He hissed when he found that one had broken off in his hand. He'd gotten nearly 3/4s of the wood out and now this peice was causing problems. He glared it and put his headband in his mouth.

"So don't have the time to play games with you," he bit down on the headband that muffled his words and let the fire in his chakra burn the piece of wood. The fire singed the flesh around the remaining pieces and Sasuke bit down harder.

_"Get away from me!"_

_"Something wrong Gaara?" _

_"Someone help!"_

Sasuke dropped off the bed onto his knees, clutching his head in pain. What the hell was going on, he did a quick internal check, everything was fine, but his chakra was going haywire. The fire on his hand went out and he breathed deeply. He turned all his thoughts to his chakra and found a small section of chakra that wasn't his. By god, he gasped aloud.

"Gaara," he sat back on the bed and reached up, touching Gaara's temple with two fingers. The milisecond he did he groaned when Gaara's chakra raced into him.

_"This is my head damnit and I won't have someone mucking about in it," Gaara snarled angrily," If the nurses could get rid of you for a while I can too."_

_"There are three people mucking about in it already. Me, you and Shukaku." Sasuke tried to focus on the voice, but Gaara was the one in control, cussing when he couldn't focus._

_"What are you talking about, Shukaku's gone!" Gaara was groaning, he sounded so tired, so angry._

_The voice must've done something because suddenly Gaara was screaming in agony._

"Sasuke, Sasuke wake up," Someone grabbed his hand and pulled him to sit up. Sasuke gasped and stared at Laili like he'd never seen her before," Sasuke you were having a nightmare."

"No I wasn't, what do you mean?"

"You were screaming. Scared me and the whole staff," Laili brushed his bangs from his face and he coughed with embarrassment. He didn't even realize he was screaming, he'd never before spoken in his sleep. Hell, when did he fall asleep?

Sasuke frowned, he didn't fall asleep, but he'd been screaming without knowing. Sasuke thought on it a second and decided it must have been that he had been so wrapped up in Gaara's chakra creation that he was screaming outloud, where Gaara was unable.

Sasuke glanced over at Gaara's peaceful features, and stared at them in a totally different way. Gaara was capable, for momentary bursts, of pushing his chakra back through Sasuke through a physical connection. Sasuke smirked, Gaara had taken his chakra depletion idea and made it all the better. Sasuke didn't bother resisting the pride that ran through his system.

Gaara was like that though, if you taught him something and told him it wasn't perfect he'd nod at you then spend hours making it perfect then come back to you, show you it, then teach you it. Something in him had to have changed while Sasuke was away at Orochimaru's, because now Gaara acted so much different.

Sasuke realized Laili was staring and smiled at her, however it faded. Laili was staring at Gaara, but her eyes shone with two emotions, love and hate. Sasuke almost hesitated but then training kicked in. A threat was a threat, even if it came from a friend.

Immediately raising his defensive hackles he stepped between them," Laili," his tone was one of warning. Laili never looked at anyone with hate and it was creeping out Sasuke. He placed both hands gently on her waist and lifted her up, placing her down on the table and casually rolling it away from Gaara.

"I won't hurt him," She sighed. She raised a hand and rubbed her face, seemed like she was wiping the expression off her face. It was odd that that the fact that she was capable of wiping off an expression like that made him jumpy about what she showed and whether or not she meant it. Was everything true? Some of it? None of it?

"Why not, you seem to very suddenly hate the Kazekage," he growled, he didn't mean to, but automatically he had changed from Laili's friend to Gaara's guard. Gaara's safety came first, he couldn't defend himself and though there was no chance in hell Laili could've fought and won against Sasuke. Sasuke found himself unable to care.

"Did I ever tell you anything about me?"


	3. Explanations And Discoveries

Laili ran a hand through her hair and smiled at him. Sasuke, old habits die hard, still stood between her and the unconscious Kage blithely ignoring the soft tingling he was feeling and the chills that kept dancing up his spine. What an odd feeling. Her pixie blue eyes sparkled and she sighed.

"I used to have a lover, we were inseparable. So young and so very love, but you know how that goes. We spent a good amount of years together. She was beautiful and I suppose I was star-struck by her. Marvelous woman though, but the woman became a monster. The woman I fell in love with died," Laili glanced off to the side and Sasuke frowned," she died and was replaced by someone I never wanted anything to do with."

Sasuke didn't understand, Laili almost sounded like she was explaining something, no not explaining. Confessing. Laili was in--had been in love with a woman and that didn't even faze the last Uchiha anymore. So many people had come up to him in the streets to thank him after finding out he was gay. When he asked, he was told because he showed a courage not many people could. Laili was apparently one of those select few people who could show the kind of courage needed.

But why did she sound so utterly defeated and what the hell did this have to do with the hate she'd displayed?

"She used to be so generous. She came from a rich and powerful family so nothing could really stop her from giving everything she wanted to give. She used to be so kind, she couldn't be a shinobi, she figured that out at an early age when she couldn't even bring herself to kill a leech." She giggled. "A leech, if you can believe it. After she changed though, the first thing she did was become a shinobi. Not just a shinobi though, an assassin. She'd hunt and kill the worst. Something I never wanted to see her do. I went to her one night to beg her to stop this, stop before she walked too far down a path that crumbled behind her every step of the way.

"She laughed at me and that night we broke apart. I ran away, left my home my team everything I knew to come here. Gaara was Kazekage by then and when I told him my story he took me in. Offered protection and a home. He took excellent care of me, even if I could tell he didn't quite trust me. Then you showed up. When you showed up things became much more interesting for me. I received a letter from my past beloved asking if you were really here.

"I didn't reply to the letter and sincerely regretted it everyday since. She killed a servant in her house that just happened to be there when she didn't get a reply. Her family, the reason they were so powerful was because of their kekkai genkai. Dream-walking. If someone was asleep, they could get into their heads and turn dreams to nightmares. Nightmares so powerful they could kill you. If they thought you were in pain, you were in pain. No doubt about it. Even if there was no wounds to show for it. The woman I fell in love with died a long time ago and the woman who replaced her used this gift to hurt people. Particularly people who hurt her.

"I sent her a letter recently and tried to talk her out of something she was planning but--"

"**Paging Laili Summers. Laili Summers to Emergency Room 12.**" Laili stood, and for a second her expression seemed torn then she ran out calling an apology over her shoulders.

Sasuke sat quietly. She didn't say much, but in that same right she said so much. Dream-walking. Quite the technique, similar to his only he could do it when they were awake and he suspected that that family didn't exactly need eye-contact to let their ability shine. Sasuke grimaced, yet again he'd have to leave his vulnerable redhead in the hopefully capable hands of the nurses and doctors. He had to get out this little room. He needed to think and needed to find the bastard who put the Kazekage in the hospital.

"Hey Sasuke," Sakura strolled in and he looked up. By now he didn't even care that he looked like hell. Sakura took one look at him and sighed. "You look sick."

"Do I? I wouldn't know or notice really." He laughed lightly and Sakura giggled softly. Despite how many times he told himself he didn't care for the pink haired woman, her laugh always made him smile. It was so childish for someone so mature. Sakura lifted a pocket mirror from her jacket pocket and passed it over as she went over Gaara's vitals.

Popping open the little mirror he couldn't help but scoff. If Gaara thought he was pale before he'd pass out at how ghostly the last Uchiha looked. Underneath his tired onyx eyes were black bags that would make the Kazekage proud. His hair was spiked and a mess. Instead of the usual combed back and spiked look he usually sported, his onyx hair spiked everywhere and in every direction.

"Sasuke, we're putting Gaara on a vitamin supplement regiment while he's here. It's going to be this new IV," she went through the process of attaching, changing and checking this new IV with him as she did it. With the amount of time Sasuke spent in this stupid little room every nurse thought it was prudent to teach him how to take care of the sleeping redhead. He didn't mind, taking care of Gaara gave him something to do. Something to take his mind off the whole situation with Naruto caring but not caring that he was here.

"Got it." He nodded and quickly did a run-through with Sakura watching over his shoulder to make sure he got everything right. When she smiled and nodded he knew he had done everything correctly and went to sit back down on the little couch in the corner. The couch was curtesy of Ginso, thank god for him, he thought that Sasuke should be able to sit the hell down at least.

"Now get out. You've been in here too long, go get some air, surely there's something you want to do? I'd recommend eating." Sakura walked out, tossing her comments over her shoulder.

Goddamn right there was something he wanted to do: kill the son-of-a-bitch who did this. First he had to find him though. He couldn't simply wait around for them to find him. Chakra, chakra was the only clue he had and usually that's all he'd need, but the bastard seemed to have dropped off the map.

No one can completely mask their chakra. Everyone with chakra had a signature, a subtle difference that select few could really see or feel. A sharingon could see it and Sasuke was beginning to wonder if perhaps he could follow the residue back to wherever this guy's been hiding. If he could though he'd need someone with him. Either to restrain him or help him, one of the two. With a determined grimace he stood, stretched and started walking towards the window, ignoring how incredibly _watched _he felt.

The ANBU knew he was here, Konoha knew he was here, Naruto knew he was here. By all rights he should be in chains and going to jail, but fortunately enough Naruto seemed preoccupied or just kindly inclined to turn a blind eye. Figuring that they didn't care about where he went, he simply jumped out the closest window and landed gracefully, almost cat-like.

Temari always described his movements as cat-like. Gaara agreed. He and Kankuro both agreed on a different animal. The snake. Sasuke shook his head, thinking about what goddamn animal he moved like wasn't helpful or useful. Although the snake made more sense...

Waving slightly to the ANBU as he walked Sasuke commenced his new train of thought. Laili. Why the hell had she been confessing to him like that. She never told him anything about herself before because he never needed to know. Hell she only told Gaara the answers to his questions about her and nothing more. When her review time came calling, both her and the Kazekage stuck to the issue at hand; whether or not she was a threat and nothing more. She never divulged anything he didn't ask for.

She had friends among the hospital staff of course, but nothing more then that. Just friends, not boyfriends or rather girlfriends. He suspected that they didn't know much about her either. Yet another thing he'd have to check into, that plus the murderous look she'd given Sasuke's sleeping lover.

Lover. He paused for that one. He'd never really called anyone that before and it was still fresh on his tongue. Not that he complained, Gaara was an excellent man and lover. He was allowed his doubts though. Right? Sasuke frowned slightly and continued. Everyone wonders if the relationship their in is real, though in reality he had a lot more to worry about then a girl with a bad-boy boyfriend. Gaara could be playing him...

No, Sasuke shook his head, Gaara wouldn't do that and plus he's had a long time to do so. Gaara wasn't the type to act so completely sincere just to pull off a mind-game and he'd never act as he did around Sasuke just to fool him.

"Good god I've been doing to much thinking lately." Sasuke kicked an abandoned soccer ball and effortlessly did a few tricks before a voice startled him.

"I've noticed." Neji Hyuuga stood in front of him. Sasuke quickly passed the ball letting Neji stop it and kick it back. With a slight chuckle Sasuke stepped around it, spun it on the ground then kicked it into the air and towards Neji. Soccer was a game he hadn't played in so long, but the movement felt good.

"Really, so you've been the guy watching my every move hm? I was beginning to wonder if Naruto forgot me." Sasuke laughed without humor it wasn't really a funny subject for him, but he'd joke about it in front of people of course. Neji's ANBU uniform seemed to have been discarded seeing as he was wearing a cream shirt and black pants. He caught the ball, threw it up and kicked it mid-air sending it drilling back towards Sasuke's throat.

"Course he hasn't forgotten you. Now what's on your mind, I'm really curious about what keeps the Uchiha prodigy awake at night?" Neji laughed when Sasuke caught the ball and flipped backwards with the force, transferring the energy in favor of stopping it.

"Right now, quite a bit. Why are you interested?" Sasuke dropped the ball and kicked it backwards toward the Hyuuga. Neji sighed and stopped the ball in thought.

"I'm interested," he kicked the beaten ball over,"because you've been spending your nights awake at Gaara's bedside and you have never worried that much about anyone as far I can gather from everyone you've associated with. Meaning Gaara has some form of special significance to you. That and of course you appeared to be meditating 10 minutes ago and then suddenly you were screaming like hell itself had you in it's grasp. What was that?"

Sasuke jumped to Neji's question in favoring of paying any attention to why Gaara had a 'special significance' to him. Telling Neji that he was sleeping and dating a Kage wouldn't go over well.

"That," he frowned. He wasn't really sure what the hell that was, dimly he wondered if Neji could help him figure it out. A part of him mocked him for becoming such a trusting creature. "That was Gaara, I think. I preformed a chakra depletion today on him not much mind you, I only transferred about 17% before Gaara accepted it. However I think that he's conscious mentally, but not physically because that was him successfully using that chakra link between us to show me what was going on in his head.

"It was like there was 3 people in there. Gaara, myself and someone else. Someone who did not like Gaara at all. I couldn't see them, they were just a voice. But it wasn't even a voice, I couldn't hear it but it was like I could feel the thought process if that makes sense."

Neji motioned for the ball and Sasuke kicked it back. Neji kicked it up, did a couple tricks then sent it back. Sasuke took this one as a sign to keep the game in motion as they spoke and sent it back after a few tricks of his own. "Explain it again, I am 57% towards understanding what the hell you're talking about."

"I am speaking to you and you hear me. In Gaara's head, I wasn't hearing them. It was like...like thoughts in a fog? Imagine a mist, and strands of someones thoughts being sent to you through the fog. Make more sense now? It wasn't on a conscious level I could hear them but an unconscious one."

"Alright, now continue with what the hell happened to make you scream." Neji kicked the ball back and it became a comfortable rhythm of a few tricks then a pass.

"In Gaara's head he said something about how the nurses could get rid of the voice for a while, and I think what he meant was while I was preforming the chakra depletion the nurses were calling to him. Calling his name and calling for him to wake up, that his people needed him, stuff like that. I think that they managed to penetrate whatever kind of wall that voice has got set up around Gaara's head long enough to force it to retreat and repair."

He kicked the ball and Neji started kicking and walking. The two passing it between them as they walked around Suna.

"So what? To wake Gaara up we all think positive thoughts-"

"Don't mock me when you don't have a better theory. Believe me I think it's stupid and foolish too but it's the only frigging explanation that makes any goddamn sense." Sasuke kicked the ball a little violently and forced Neji to have to stop it instead of just tapping it back. With a stubborn glare directed toward nothing in particular Sasuke continued his calm pace.

"Yea okay, you're right. That is the only one that explains anything. Keep going and I'll give my opinion afterwards." Neji offered with a light, passifying kick.

"I think it'd go faster if you gave your thoughts now." Sasuke shrugged and Neji nodded.

"I want to say you're a fucking nut job, but you're right - I expect nothing less from you." Neji chuckled then continued. "I can tell you've put thought behind what even you thought was a case of I've-been-trapped-in-a-hospital-too-long which tells me that if I went through it I would probably find that there really wasn't any other logical explanation. I would be willing to bet that Gaara and you are exactly the caliber of men to be capable of successfully pulling off a chakra depletion and a mental connection using chakra." Neji picked up the ball and started tossing it by hand.

"If someone is accessing his thoughts then it must be a kekkai genkai, or an Uchiha, but seeing as you are standing beside me, I'll assume you aren't getting into his head-"

"I can only get into jinchurriki's heads and even then it's a migraine and a half to get into a head as well guarded as Gaara's, but how the hell did you know I could get in there?"

"Naruto talks. A lot. Do you want to hear my opinion?" Sasuke nodded. "Then don't interrupt. If you aren't the person doing it, then it's a kekkai genkai, a strong one, being wielded by someone with a grudge if the screams that came out of your mouth are any indication. If it really is as you say then I suspect that was Gaara's way of giving you a taste of what he's living with. An incentive to hurry if you will."

Their passing had become an intricate series of movements but of course at the level of ANBU, Neji could surely keep up. Sasuke was ex-ANBU but he still had the training so he could as well. Although he was quite glad to know that Neji could keep up with him on a mental playing field, least that's someone else to talk to. Leaving the list at; Neji, Sakura, Ginso and select few other nurses.

"Neji," Sasuke hesistated, asking for help was never his strong suit,"do you mind lending me a hand? I want to try something, but I don't know if it'll work and if it doesn't I want to have an assurance that the trip will not have been useless.

"By god, you're asking for help? How much you've changed-"

"You're one to talk Destiny-boy." Sasuke honestly couldn't resist the jab, Neji was so somber now that it was creepy. Luckily the quip was met with a smile and a chuckle.

"What do you need?"

"I've always been able to see present chakra and I'm wondering if perhaps I could see _remnants _of a chakra used in a location. Follow the arsonist's trail, I'd appreciate it if you could go back to the hospital and keep an eye on the Kazekage. Failing that then I'd like it if you came with me."

"I'm not leaving you alone with the person who put Gaara in the hospital, you'd kill him. So," he pressed a com set on his neck," someone go into the hospital and watch the Kazekage. Do not, under any circumstances, leave his side. Sasuke Uchiha and I are going to see if we can't find the ass who did this."

Neji raised an eyebrow at him and Sasuke smiled appreciatively. After realizing that Neji couldn't read his expression like Gaara could he spoke,"Thank you Neji."

Both of them took separate routes to arrive back at the ashes of the Kage building. Sasuke didn't flinch when he saw the ruins this time. No point, he couldn't let a bunch of black ash beat down Sasuke Uchiha. Neji walked ahead of him into the ruins and Sasuke forced himself to shake off the painful brush with memory.

"Hey Sasuke. I know you're the Shadow Guard, why did you fool Naruto into thinking it was a girl?"

Sasuke laughed as he made his way back towards where he'd found the arsonist's chakra. "I fooled him because when Gaara goes back to Konoha, I go with him to see what's changed. If Naruto thinks that the Shadow Guard and I aren't the same person I can continue doing so. Otherwise he can have me picked up by ANBU. How did you figure it out, my genjutsu was perfect."

"It was and for a moment you had me fooled, but then you went over to Gaara's apartment to help his siblings tackle the paperwork. From what you had told Naruto you've only been here for 4-5 days, not enough time for you to know how to do anything. That guard has been around for 6 years I think. That would be enough time for them to know what to do. "

_Longer, _Sasuke internally corrected the Hyuuga.

"I suppose my game is up then." He stopped at the small section of ash that had once been where his and Gaara's would-be assassin stood. "Hey Neji may I ask you something a bit personal?"

"I might not answer but feel free." The Hyuuga prodigy bent and brushed his fingerips over peices of burnt wood and paper, rubbing the ash between his pale fingertips and miraculously keeping his cream shirt clean.

"Am I going to jail after this is over?"

Neji stilled. Then stood and studied the last Uchiha for a second. Sasuke kept everything about him level, refusing to show any sort of nervousness to the ANBU captain before him. Neji absently ran his ash-free hand through the top of his hair, being careful not to dislodge the small ponytail he had at the bottom.

"Yes. The moment this is over and Gaara's awake Naruto will be keeping him busy with updates and I'm to come in and get you. I bring you outside, hopefully without a scene, and then my squad takes you back to Konoha to stand trail." Neji sighed. "I really do apologize Sasuke."

Sasuke was horrified. Gaara would be devastated. For a moment Sasuke actually had to restrain himself from dashing off. He sighed and shook his head.

"Neji, before you guys throw me into that hell. Can I ask one more favor from you?" He glanced up hopefully. "Will you let me say goodbye to him. Gaara would raise hell if he ever found out, unless you already have a contingency plan for that."

"We're planting a shinobi, who will have 'seen' you running out the gates with a bag over your shoulder. He's going to say he confronted you and that you said you couldn't stay, that you felt trapped-"

"You're having me run away again?" Sasuke really wanted to sit down, but that would look weak. He forced a nervous chuckle. "Running away again. Hm." He opted to change the topic quickly before he actually had to sit. He'd promised he wouldn't do that to Gaara, that would hurt more then anything the ANBU in Konoha's interrogation squad could throw at him. "I'm going to start moving and quick because I don't quite know just how long I have before the trail disappears, it may already be gone."

Sasuke flicked on his sharingon and focused, hoping to high hell this would work. For a second nothing happened, then he caught a flicker of blue. Chakra! Stopping himself before he could do anything that would give away how absolutely gleeful he was. Sasuke took off running, following the faint light blue chakra trail as it darted down alley ways and across the biggest intersection in Suna.

Sasuke glared softly as he realized that this bastard had been literally surrounded by shinobi from Suna and no one knew he was even there. Vaguely he was still aware of Neji following behind him but really he didn't care.

"Got it." After 10 minutes of straight running, Sasuke finally stopped outside a little motel on the outskirts. He hesitated long enough for Neji to notice, then ran in. Following the trail up the stairs. The arsonist was here, he could feel the bastard. "Get ready to grab someone. They're in this room." Sasuke paused then kicked the door in and moved to run towards the source of the chakra

Neji darted in front of him to take point and Sasuke didn't bother grumbling. He'd probably stab the asshole.

"What the hell?" Neji half-yelled and Sasuke darted in. Darted in and froze solid. Horror washed over him like a tidal wave. He'd put his trust in the asshole? Left Gaara alone with his failed assassin? Suddenly Sasuke felt very ill.

"No. No way. Please tell me that this is a joke, some sick sick joke." Sasuke almost pleaded. If this was true then he'd willingly left Gaara in danger so many times. The urge to vomit was coming up now, bold and determined to force Sasuke to his knees. Absently he wondered if perhaps this was what Naruto and Sakura felt when he left Konoha so many years ago?

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I can explain-"

"Shut up!" He yelled and went to kill the person before him. Neji just barely managed to catch and hold the enraged Uchiha. "How could you do this? To me? To Gaara! He's done nothing but help you you bitch!" Neji slammed him against the wall and used the whole of his body weight to keep Sasuke in check.

"Sasuke, Sasuke you've got to calm down. I'll take this son of a bitch in and we'll interrogate her." Neji scowled backwards and Sasuke tried to force a sense of calm through himself. Failing but trying. Neji covered Sasuke's crimson eyes to stop him from killing the woman with a single glance. Sasuke was shaking, but with what Neji wasn't sure. Betrayal or rage? Perhaps both was a more appropriate assumption. Neji understood, he'd be pissed too. He had nothing to do with this situation and he was startled.

"Laili why would you try to kill Gaara?"


	4. Awake

**A/N:** Going for the gold, I'm trying to finish this story today but I'm not sure if I can. If not, tomorrow then! I'm trying to post quite a bit, because I was gone for so long and I really want to get it done and over with for those who are waiting on the ending.

I don't exactly know if I like this story myself, it is my first real _story _not a one-shot. I've never started and finished one before so I hope this comes out not to badly. Reviews are incredibly helpful and I appreciate them greatly.

With further ado,

* * *

Fury was wrong.

Rage was very wrong.

Hate was getting there. Murderous was right about where Sasuke's emotions were. He really really _really_ wanted to kill something. No, that wasn't right. He really wanted to kill some_one._

Laili Summers. Sasuke took a calming breath, since they found that the trail led to Laili he'd been sitting by Gaara's bed in the _seiza_ position trying to get to his bloody breathing under control. After 2 hours of sitting, he wasn't getting very far.

"Neji if you keep staring I will hit you." He opened one eye and Neji chuckled. "Did she say anything?"

"No. She wants to talk to you, I said you'd kill her and she says fine I'll just have to hold him off long enough to explain." Neji shrugged and raised an eyebrow. Sasuke knew why. It was a damn question, they needed Laili to confess because the word of a traitor wouldn't hold up before the council. Well in Suna it might, but Naruto would be sitting in and no one wanted to let him know that Sasuke was actually respected and trusted here. If Laili wanted to confess to Sasuke, then Sasuke was the person they'd have to get to go in.

"You're kidding me right?" Sasuke continued trying to calm his breathing down, along with his urge to completely murder anyone who annoyed him.

"No, you get to go in. I'm willing to come in with you, if you think you need it?"

"I don't _think_ I need it. I _know _I need it." Sasuke grumbled as he stood and began walking. Laili was being kept in Suna's holding facility about 15 minutes walk away, so Neji and Sasuke pressed on in a hurry, taking to jumping from rooftop to rooftop to get there faster. "You go in first and be ready I don't know how much self-control I can muster up for someone who had me spending 2 hours trying to calm down."

Neji nodded and walked into the interrogation room then motioned for Sasuke. The last Uchiha took one deep calming breath before walking in. He kept his eyes closed and merely leaned against the wall. Sasuke was fairly certain that every line in his body read tension and anger because Neji's hand was discreetly pressing against his wrist to keep check on his pulse.

"Talk." He managed to growl. He wasn't exactly sure if he could listen to her voice and not make a move but damnit he'd try. This bitch's confession was the only way they could catch Gaara's attacker. Now that Sasuke thought about it, his attacker too, Laili had attacked when both him and Gaara were alone in the Kage building.

"You won't even look at me?" Her voice sounded almost innocent and Sasuke almost physically balked. A small voice in his head asked when he got so attached to Gaara that listening to this woman after she tried to kill the redhead made him sick to his stomach.

_And me,_ he added to the thought to justify himself.

"Sasuke?" Neji's voice was quiet as he tightened his grip on Sasuke's pulse point. Sasuke forced himself to calm and let his head fall back to rest on the wall. Neji seemed to relax because his grip loosened ever so slightly.

"I can't. If I do, I'll end up killing you and as much as it infuriates me I appear to be the one you want to talk to." Sasuke growled and pressed the back of his head harder into the wall. Good god he could hear Gaara's voice saying 'cool off, you blow your top you get nothing. Be the calm safe place and they'll run to you.' Of course that had been when he and Gaara had been requested to help with a hostage situation and the son of a bitch taking hostages killed a child.

Sasuke took yet another deep breath then turned to Neji and opened his eyes, careful to look downwards in case his eyes weren't onyx but crimson. Neji shook his head and Sasuke met the cold blank gaze of the Hyuuga. "I'm going to sit down, it's your job to hold me back." Sasuke wondered if Neji was capable of seeing just how serious Sasuke was. Neji nodded and stood behind the chair, gripping Sasuke's shoulders tightly as he sat.

"Your eyes are different. Colder somehow." Laili seemed so very remourseful and Sasuke pressed himself back into the chair.

"Colder? Really, I'd say that's because I trusted the woman who tried to kill me and the Kazekage. But we're not here to talk about my eyes. Tell me why, tell me how. Tell me everything." Almost without thinking about he used a small skill Kankuro had taught him. Chakra strings. He didn't have wires on him so he looped a chakra string around his right wrist enough times to keep it still against the arm rest. Sure it was definitely going to cut the blood flow off for a bit but he was really itching to suffocate her.

"I set the fire. I went into the building, cleared every floor quickly and assured that no one else was in. You two always work late, later then anyone else does so I was certain that my flames wouldn't hurt anyone else. I went onto the 3rd floor, and set the fire in 3 separate locations. To ensure that it would burn. I thought that the smoke would reach and suffocate both you before the fire itself could eat you but you both got out so quick.

"If you had just let him die this wouldn't have happened! If he had died, then she would've....Damn it Sasuke why do you care about him? He's just the Kazekage. They can replace those in days and--"

Sasuke lunged, his chakra strings broken in seconds with the force of his anger. Neji's grip shifted quickly, one arm circling the last Uchiha's waist and and the other going for a tight grip at his throat. Sasuke struggled for a moment before Neji could pin him up against the wall. Sasuke shoved back and fought. For that moment his eyes were so clouded by anger he swore he would've hit the Hyuuga prodigy. Seeing red didn't even begin to attain the level of fury. Hell Sasuke thought even Naruto would back off, then again Neji's got quite the goddamn backbone to still be holding on.

"I'm okay now. I'm alright." He pushed off the wall and met no resistance. Cautiously and letting Neji have a steady grip on his forearm, Sasuke walked over and leaned on the arm rests of Laili's chair. "He's not just the Kazekage. You can't replace a man who has done so much good for Suna in just a_ few days_. When Gaara almost died when he was 14 the whole fucking country mourned the loss and rejoiced when he came back. You can't replace a man like Gaara, and if I ever hear that again I'm going to knock out Neji here and kill you slowly."

He turned and faced the man still holding tightly onto him," Did we get everything we need from her?" When Neji nodded, he all but ran out. The second he did, he slammed straight into Naruto, Temari and Kankuro. He studied their expressions; terrified, gleeful, relieved. "What?" He had to ask. Two things could cause those expressions either catching Laili or...

"Gaara's awake."

Sasuke was gone. Disappearing in milliseconds, getting to the hospital in record time and barking loudly for people to get the hell out of his way.

"'Suke?" Sasuke halted, the familar voice hadn't spoken to him in a week and already it seemed a lifetime. Turning on his heel he felt so robotic but couldn't be bothered, was he really awake?

Gaara's face was pale, drawn and he had fresh beads of sweat and water racing down his temples meaning he took a shower. New jeans, no shirt. He was so thin, Sasuke felt an irrational fear of breaking the redhead's ribs. Sasuke would've sworn his vision actually blurred and the phrase you don't know what you have 'til it's gone rang heavily true in his ears. Gaara was leaning his shoulder on the wall and the black around his eyes seemed so drawn on that it hurt. The red of his hair was so bright against his ghostly pallor and Sasuke wondered nowadays who was paler; him or Gaara?

Sasuke couldn't stop himself and didn't want to either. He flash-stepped forwards to stand in front of Gaara, looked him over once then hugged him in front of the nurses, doctors, everyone. Mixed reactions, some were confused others were too overjoyed to react. He didn't care, and once he separated he hugged the Kazekage and spoke,"You son-of-a-bitch if you _ever _do that to me I'll kill you."

Gaara laughed and hugged the last Uchiha as tight as his unused limbs would allow and replied gently,"Don't worry, I'm never going to let myself do that again." Sasuke realized, belatedly, that Gaara was not only hugging him, but clinging and using him to stay on his feet.

"Baka, you shouldn't be walking around right after a 5 day nap."

"'Suke, take me to my office and bring the ANBU. I'm fixing my building up now. The people need to see me and remember who I am and how strong I am. This cannot beat me." Gaara met his eyes and Sasuke nodded. Gaara was his usual self, straight forward to the point and incredibly business-like, but the relief pouring through Sasuke's veins had him just a bit distracted otherwise he would've protested to Gaara doing anything so strenuous.

"Here, you look like a skeleton and that's not the image you want to project" Sasuke jerked off his own shirt and tugged it over Gaara's head. The redhead nodded then gripped his arms. "ANBU squadron 36, report." He glanced around and from their strategic positions a squad of ANBU, whose sole job was watching the Kage while he was in hospital, appeared fluidly. "We're going to the Kage building to fix it. The Shadow Guard will be meeting Kazekage-dono there and you guys will be aiding. once he has the building frame up two of you are going to take over so the Guard can get him back here."

All of them nodded and Gaara whispered in Sasuke's ear as he leaned up the sharingon user. "May I ask why you're referring to yourself in the third person? You and the Guard-" Sasuke began walking to them to the window and closed the hospital door behind him. Neji was probably watching, but Neji already knew so who cares. He snapped and a clone appeared and took his place.

"I'm doing that because Naruto thinks the guard is a girl, and Konoha is arresting me as soon as possible. They're going to try and make it look like I ran away again but believe me I can't do that to you. I'm praying that I've proved I've changed and that Neji, who by the way is watching my every move, will see fit to arrest my clone and not the real me." Sasuke changed his appearance into the woman he'd made for the Guard and used a genjutsu for the cloak.

The clone and Gaara jumped out the window, Sasuke disapparated to the ruins and waited. When Gaara and everyone else appeared, he stepped up to Gaara's side. By Sasuke's will the clone released Gaara when he began walking up to ashes. One wave of his hand and the ruins were nothing but a memory. He placed his hands at his waist and closed his eyes, slowly lifting his hands palm up. As he moved the desert shifted to oblige him and a building slowly began forming.

Just the skeleton first, a shell of a building. Then the inner walls formed and the floors extended like webs before being coated over in solid layering wave of sand. Once the Kage building was built up again, but the outer walls weren't in place Gaara turned to his audience,"Did anyone here work with me?"

One person raised their hand.

"Do you want to change anything about your office?" He chuckled and slowly the woman stepped forward and murmured into the Kazekage's ear. Gaara nodded and one office shifted, but only the door shuffled over. Moving from being across from one door to facing an entirely different direction. He looked around, a very distinctive question of does anyone else want something and when no one raised their hands Gaara brought up the outer wall. Connecting it to the roof Gaara waited until his ANBU took over then let Sasuke, the real one, grip his upper arm to balance and support the slightly swaying Kage.

"Sasuke Uchiha you are under arrest for treason against the Land of Fire." Sasuke tensed and prayed when Neji's voice began speaking.

But the Hyuuga prodigy wasn't touching him. Neji had gripped the clone's arm and Sasuke was for the second time in a single day washed over with a strong heady sense of relief and gratitude for the byakkugan user.

_Thank you Neji, _he thought as he shifted his grip on Gaara then took to jumping on the roofs. "You are going back to the hospital and staying there. You need to eat too." Sasuke muttered and Gaara just laughed. Sasuke almost paused. Gaara sounded so endearingly happy that it was out of character. But Gaara was doubled over laughing so hard that Sasuke had to either stop jumping or risk Gaara falling.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Sasuke exclaimed, favoring annoyance instead of utter confusion. Gaara leaned his forehead against Sasuke's shoulders, his hand knotting in Sasuke's shirt and his shoulders still shaking from the peals of laughter. The red head seemed incapable of answering so Sasuke opted to wait it out. Gaara managed to calm himself down a couple minutes later and when he did Sasuke was startled to see tears had made their way down Gaara's cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" Now he was just lost. Gaara was laughing....but Gaara was crying? What?

The red headed Kazekage almost started laughing again but held himself in check and pressed his lips to Sasuke's forehead. "The crying is a side effect of laughing so damn hard, and if you want to know how that happens ask Sakura not me. I'm laughing because you are acting like a worried mother hen. I expected anger, rage and a lot of yelling when I woke up. Instead I get told to get my ass back to the hospital and to eat. It's so very out of character for you that it's hilarious."

Sasuke just glared for a second before realizing Gaara was right. Normally he'd be furious and if it was anyone else but Gaara he'd be yelling like hell and verbally killing the idiot. But it was Gaara. Almost as an afterthought Sasuke laughed lightly.

"You see my amusment." Gaara said it like a question but it was in fact just that; a fact.

"Yes damnit I see why you're laughing." He let out another chuckle and in the back of his head asked why he _was _in such a merry mood. "Don't think you've escaped my wrath though, I won't hurt a sick man but I will kill him when he's well."

Gaara just laughed again as Sasuke continued their jumping. When they arrived at the hospital Sakura approached and glared dangerously. "Why were you not in your room. I gave you an order, you were limited to the bathroom and your room."

Sasuke outright scoffed. "You gave the Kazekage an order?" He couldn't believe it, and it always seemed to irk him when people decided they were above the Kazekage. Then he checked himself. "My apologies Sakura, it was a reflex."

"And the right one. I respect your authority Sakura, but I will not be talked to like that. Do not fool yourself into thinking that I will tolerate it." Gaara seemed so utterly secure but Sasuke could still feel the subtle trembling running through him. "However now I am going back to my room, I just had something to take care of first." With that he stepped away from Sasuke and walked on his own. The picture of strength and power disappearing into his hospital room with Sasuke hot on his heels. Gaara stayed straight, didn't stumble once, for a second Sasuke was almost proud at how good an actor his lover was.

Once the door closed and the room's blinded were pulled though Gaara dropped. Sasuke actually had to dive to his knees to catch the free-falling Kage. "Shit Gaara. Maybe next time, we just should let the medic nin deal with you?"

Gaara opened hazy azure eyes and gave a mischievous smirk. "Don't be cruel, she deserved it." Gaara seemed to realized the compromising position he'd landed in and moved to get up. Sasuke tightened his hold and stood. Without letting go he moved and sat on the bed, pulling Gaara to lay face up between his legs. He dropped the jutsu to be him again and Gaara shifted so he could rest his head on Sasuke's shoulder again.

"Now that we're alone and I have your attention. I'm going to kill you." Sasuke muttered as he nipped the shell of Gaara's ear gently.

"I think I wouldn't complain. Depending on your method." Gaara relaxed against him and Sasuke brought him closer, using one hand on Gaara's chin to force him to face the last Uchiha. At first it was gentle, just a light brushing against the Kage's lips.

"Suffocation." He breathed then the kiss turned urgent. After a week of Gaara being almost completely comatose - Sasuke had begun to agree with himself in the idea that Gaara's mind was wake but nothing else was - feeling Gaara responding to his advances was like water after weeks of thirst. Gaara's arms wrapped around his neck to bring him closer. Sasuke however had been counting off seconds in his head and after 45 deemed Gaara would have to breath and so would he.

He separated from the red head's mouth but not his skin. Unable to resist when Gaara's head fell back to gasp Sasuke latched onto his neck and suckled softly. Gaara moaned softly and tangled his fingers in Sasuke's hair. For a moment Sasuke pulled muffled moan after pleading gasp from Gaara with no effort at all then when his hand moved to touch the near-begging man surprise stopped him.

They jumped apart like someone sprayed them with cold water when a knock banged against the door.

Temari and Kankuro walked in and the gruff blond Suna sibling flew to her baby brother's side and pulled him into a hug. Gaara almost looked relieved, using her distraction to catch his breath and regain his composure.

The two of them rambled their quick concerns for him then Kankuro turned serious and went to work. Updating Gaara on everything he'd missed. Gaara's expression sobered up and soured at some points. He went from normal guy to Kazekage in such a quick time that Sasuke almost released his billionth chuckle in a hour.

It took two hours to bring Gaara back up to speed and when he was he immediately flew into his orders. "I'll need the paperwork on that meeting, transcripts everything please. I need to write a letter to Naruto to thank him for helping cover for me. Also I need to brief the ANBU on how to proceed with capturing the prick who did this-"

"Gaara." Sasuke piped in. That's right, the thought came in clearly now, Gaara didn't know about Laili's betrayal.

"Yes." Neither did the other two people in the room. Probably, otherwise they would've told him. Meaning they had just been told where he was not what he was doing there when they came to pick him up at the detention center.

"The ANBU don't need to be briefed. Neji and I caught her. Not a guy like I originally assumed but the arsonist, the chick who tried to kill us," Sasuke hated that he was tripping over his own words but Gaara seemed so happy, it almost hurt to have to be the one to bring down his mood. But Gaara was giving him an expectant look and so was Temari and Kankuro. "Laili Summers tried to kill us sir." He fell back behind protocol to force himself into speaking.

"What."Gaara's voice didn't raise itself above a whisper. It couldn't go any louder. Horror crashed onto the Kazekage like a wooden plank to the gut. Laili? Laili who took care of both he and his lover when anything happened. Laili who flew into action to prepare whenever Gaara showed up at the hospital asking where Sasuke was before he even arrived. Laili who acted more like a mother to the duo then a nurse. "No. Sasuke, it can't be her."

"I'm sorry but we tracked her down by her chakra. I followed the remnants and they lead to her. It also explains a few things that you were asleep for. I wouldn't tell you if I wasn't certain." Sasuke shook his head in apology and heard Gaara's intake of breath. Then his voice sounded so unhappy.

"I would like to be alone, please." He got up and approached Sasuke cautiously. Light as a feather Gaara's hands carressed his cheeks as Gaara brushed a kiss across his lips. "Come back in a hour, I just want a bit of time to sort through everything. I'm not mad, just a bit-" Gaara searched for the appropriate word.

"Overwhelmed?" Sasuke supplied and Gaara nodded, pinning him with a grateful but playful glare.

"Yes, overwhelmed is a good word." Gaara chuckled as Sasuke left as per request.

Once he was alone, Gaara sat on the bed and frowned. "Why the hell would Laili try to kill 'Suke and I? That makes no sense. She's a damn medic nin and the most non-violent one I know. If she did want to kill the two of us all she had to do was kill me while I was under her care. Sasuke would react badly enough that he'd get himself arrested. Arrested means Konoha gets alerted and Sasuke gets killed in prison." Gaara shook his head and ran a hand through his spikes. He knew that starting working right after he got up was a bad idea, so he figured that reasoning out why Laili tried to kill him was a better idea.

"Hey Gaara." Speaking of the devil. He frowned, if Laili had been caught then she should still be in custody not standing in front of him. "I'm sorry, really. This never had anything to do with Sasuke really, but he just couldn't let you die and don't worry my guards are all fine. Just very knocked out. When I heard you were awake I had to come, had to explain." She sighed and Gaara could see that she had tears in her eyes. Standing up he approached her and gripped her shoulders gently but firmly.

"Why did you do it?" He asked.

"I had to. If you died by smoke inhalation then you would have gone peacefully at least. I figured Sasuke's instincts would get him out of the building when he found you dead. Instead he saved you and you survived. You should have just died Gaara! Then she wouldn't have come, she wouldn't do it. Damnit." Laili groaned and Gaara froze up when a voice slipped up his spine from behind.

"Oh knock it off Laili, you shouldn't have meddled at all. None of this had to happen but damn it of course you had to step in and try to foil me."

"You can't do this! It's not right, it's not fair!" Laili started to fall into a rampage but Gaara stopped her with his quiet but forced orders as he shoved her backwards towards the door.

"Laili run, go get Sasuke. Get the hell out of-" He fell silent when a kunai slammed through the girl's throat. "Laili! Laili! Help!" He yelled for a doctor as Laili slumped into him.

"No one can hear you Gaara," Gaara ignored the malicious giggle from behind him,"I sound-proofed the room. She's good as dead. Poor Kazekage-dono. See if you hadn't sent away Sasuke like that then hell, maybe she would have survived this. Funny how everything seems to come back on you. Everthing that happened that will happen is _all your fault._"

'Shut up!' He wanted to scream, wanted to yell, wanted to turn and attack the person he knew was standing in his shadow. Instead he mutely lifted Laili to the bed and placed her down gently. The moment he did, an elegant and long-fingered hand slammed down on the kunai and drove it in up the to handle. Blood gushed up and connected in a line up Gaara's cheek and over his eye. Later he would realize how lucky he was that none of it got into his eye.

"See. She's done."

He looked up, torn between rage and desperation and met the frigid blue eyes of the woman he left. Sierra Komo.


	5. A Kage's Deal

**A/N:** I was going to make this the last chapter, but I felt like it was dragging so I split it. I confess to a bit of turmoil as to whether or not to abandon this story after the last chapter but ultimately I guessed that would be mean. I know I hate it when an author abandons a story I'm completely engrossed in. So I hope this isn't too bad!

Without further ado,

* * *

Sierra Komo hated Gaara Sabaku. He had been engaged to marry her and left _her _for that traitorous rat Sasuke Uchiha. Sure she knew that Sasuke had been there first. 7 years was quite a while and Gaara had once brought him away from Konoha when he was 16, under Tsunade's reign as Hokage. However the old bat hadn't passed along the knowledge that Sasuke was in Suna to Naruto, so the 6th Hokage had no idea he was here. A curse in itself, if he had known than both men would've suffered without Sierra ever having to lift a finger. Sasuke would go to prison. Gaara would lose his title and be forced onto the run, either that or join his precious Uchiha in jail.

She'd came onto the scene though, won the fiery tempered Kage's heart fair and square and that traitor had stolen it without so much as thought to how that would affect her! When the red head had left her she had been forced to stay with that idiot she'd been cheating on him with. Had to live with him.

Tamaki was good screw but nothing else. That loathsome idiot. If she had married Gaara then life would've been much much easier. No more worries there though, if everything went to plan.

"Sierra, this is mental. Why would you murder Laili?"

Sierra chuckled maniacally,"Because silly," She tapped his nose like he was a child, "she was a witness. I don't want any witness to dispute what I'm going to tell Sasuke after this. I'm going to tell him you begged to trade his life for your own and that because I was really in love with him, I killed you to protect him. I'll get him to fall into my arms and marry him. Then when he becomes Kazekage because you taught him so well, it'll be like replacing you with him. Same destination, different means of transportation."

"You've lost your mind!" Gaara exclaimed as he backed towards the door. "How the hell did you get in here?"

"Oh that? That was the easiest part. While you were still unconscious Neji called for a ANBU to guard you while Sasuke was away. I killed the guard and took her place. Then waited." She jumped forwards and slipped her fingers into his unused belt loops. She tugged him up against her and Gaara reached out for the doorknob in a last ditch attempt to grab someone's attention. Rattling his doorknob would bring the ANBU.

Sierra reached out and gripped his wrist, slamming him up against the wall. Cursing his state of weakness silently Gaara didn't bother struggling. The 5th Kazekage wasn't about to give this crazy chick the satisfaction of seeing him frightened. A 5 day comatose state had left his muscles untried and his sand hadn't been brought into the hospital because no one figured that he would need it. A fleeting glance at the clock told him he only had to survive for another 45 minutes before Sasuke would come. When he came the two could fight together. For now, all he had was his mind and taijutsu. That just had to be enough.

'And if it's not?' A voice tormented him in the back of his thoughts and ruthlessly Gaara shoved it back into the dark. He didn't need a goddamn devil on his shoulder to tell him how bad this situation was. Taijutsu was his weakest point, even he had been working on with unadulterated effort. Sierra had always been an expert in what he wasn't. Yet another reason he had proposed to her, she and he made a formidable team in battle. Giving a quiet rebuttal he mentally muttered, "Sasuke and I make a better one."

"What do you want?" He growled quietly.

"You,"she smirked, "dead."

.

Sasuke hated being sent away by anyone, but Gaara had asked to be alone and he could give him that. Plus he wasn't sending Sasuke away because it was him, he was doing it so he could try to filter through all the information that had been thrown in his face in the last what? Hour.

Yup, Gaara had only been awake for roughly an hour and already he was being pushed past his current limits. Sasuke grumbled softly to himself, "You didn't exactly help with that department Uchiha." But Gaara had needed to know, otherwise he'd have been hunting for a person already found and that was a waste of effort he didn't need.

"Hey Sasuke," A shopkeeper smiled at him and Sasuke looked up,"come over here you'll be glad when the rain comes. It's coming quickly."

The shopkeeper, a man Sasuke knew to be amazing in battle, was name Touya. He was damn near legendary when it came to how well he could predict weather. When he said a storm was coming, no matter how unlikely it seemed, the damn thing was coming. So when Touya told Sasuke that he should be seeking shelter underneath the stall's little roof Sasuke all but jogged underneath it.

Sure enough, not 5 minutes later the rain started slapping into the roof. Sasuke jolted slightly when a wave of thunder crashed into the sky with a resounding boom. Touya chuckled then picked up an apple,"Would you like an apple while you wait?" He smiled warmly and Sasuke nodded gratefully reaching into his pocket for the money to pay. "Don't bother. I couldn't take money from the man who saved Kazekage-dono from that fire. You deserve it. Eat and wait my friend."

Sasuke laughed and took the apple. "You spoil me Touya, and he saved us both. He's the one who had the forethought to keep the goddamn building from falling onto both of us. I just helped him stay on his feet."

"From such a cocky kid to an adult with a bad habit of selling himself short, how we change as we grow." Touya munched happily on a bowel of ramen from the back. Obviously he'd been on his lunch break when Sasuke strolled by. The two made mindless chit-chat as they waited on the rain to end, but for 40 consecutive minutes the damn storm held. Sasuke had finished off his apple.

"Gotta go, duty calls and the Kazekage is waiting for me at the hospital. Lots to figure out, but of course you already knew that because it's you and you always know." Sasuke shrugged hopelessly as he stepped out into the rain and ran off calling his thanks and goodbye over his shoulder to the welcoming shopkeeper. Touya really was an amazing man and a better shinobi then Sasuke could believe from such a small old man.

Sasuke ran through the rain, even though his senses were screaming at him for being out in the freezing cold rain. Sasuke brushed it off an focused on the foreboding, desperate feeling in the back of his mind. Something kept nagging at him, like a stab to the back of his head but Sasuke wasn't too keen on being on the receiving end of a migraine because he had a bad feeling. Ignoring it until he was home seemed like the right idea.

When he finally reached the hospital he figured he bore some resemblance to a wet rat because the second he walked in Ginso started outright laughing him.

"Don't laugh! It's raining." He protested jokingly as laughter rocked Ginso's frame and eventually the collection of people in the lobby realized Sasuke wasn't killing Ginso and started laughing too. "Yea Yea laugh it up." He called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall towards the Kazekage's room, flashing his sharingon as identification towards an ANBU guard. Most of the ANBU could recognize him by chakra alone, but for formality's sake he'd use the one thing no one could imitate to identify himself.

"Hey Gaara, Touya thinks that somehow I succeeded in saving you from the fire, comical ne?" Sasuke quipped as he walked into the hospital room. Then he stopped breathing. Gaara was kneeling on all fours, one arm wrapped around his waist and blood falling from his lips. Laili was lying on the bed, a knife in her throat and quite dead.

"Run!" The Kazekage barked and instictively he responded to the obvious order in the Kazekage's voice and dashed back outside into the hall.

Then, a miracle. Naruto Uzumaki was walking down the hallway with Gaara's gourd on his back. The number one knuckle-headed ninja had never been more appreciated by his ex-teammate in all of history and probably never would be. Naruto seemed to recognize him and went to yell for the ANBU but Sasuke slammed into him and effectively knocked the wind out of him.

"Naruto!" He ran forwards and grabbed onto the Hokage. "You can arrest me later, Gaara needs our help c'mon." He jerked the Kage forwards and broke into a run. He threw the door open and jerked the cork off the gourd, flipping it over to spill the sand then stopping. "No, no Gaara please." He dropped forwards and checked for a pulse. Dimly he could hear Naruto yelling for help, for a medical team.

Gaara was lying on the floor on his stomach, one arm still around his stomach but his other hand was stretched out and broken. His back was littered with cuts and blood caked itself into every crevice of his muscles. Sasuke was no medic nin, but he could tell a bone when he saw one and one was protruding at a completely wrong angle from Gaara's side.

_A rib, _his mind ran through possibilities as his finger hunted for a pulse. Sasuke saw that the rib was being jostled by Gaara's positioning and quickly rolled him up into his lap to prevent anymore. "Wake the fuck up you stupid red head you said you wouldn't do this to me again." He muttered before relief soared through him. A pulse. Weak but steady, and really there. Gaara was alive. The medical team bolted in and quickly made to move Gaara from Sasuke's hold.

"You can't move him, his rib. Fix his rib first then we'll move him. In the meantime someone get the body off the bed."

Christ, Sasuke thought, I barely registered the dead thing.

'Dead thing? I mean Laili.' Sasuke checked himself internally. Something Temari had taught him after an assassination mission was that if you stopped recognizing the dead as people, you stopped feelings things and when you lost something you truely cherished if would kill you inside. Sasuke knew exactly what she meant now. He knew it was going to take him a bit of time to get the feeling things down to a science again after his childhood, but the prospect of losing Gaara was like a knife to the gut.

He sat in silence, feeling trapped and useless everytime he turned around something happened to make him suffer for it. Suffering, yet another he'd been doing quite a bit of lately. Bu dwelling wouldn't and couldn't help him. Laili had tried to kill him once, and from what it looked like she had tried again.

The **bitch.**

"Sasuke?" Naruto studied the last living Uchiha seriously. Sasuke hadn't moved from his position on his knees, and from the agonized look on his face Naruto figured he was either a) blaming himself or b) contemplating suicide. Sasuke didn't seem the type to kill himself so he guess that it was a.

"Yes Naruto." Sasuke answered and Naruto wasn't quite sure whether or not he was really listening.

"C'mon teme, a bowl of ramen says you haven't much these last few days. I'll treat you to something good." Naruto reached down and gripped his ex-teammate's arm to help him up. He knew Sasuke was in a bad place when the proud teme didn't even protest to being helped to his feet. Hell he didn't even curse the blond Hokage when he swayed and Naruto took one step closer and put an arm around his shoulders to keep the man up.

"Naruto I'm not an invalid. I can stand on my own." Sasuke muttered softly but couldn't quite manage to stop himself from leaning on his ex-friend's steady confidence. His own was sitting in pieces for the minute, even if he'd never admit to it. Ever.

"Yea okay teme we'll go with that. We'll stick our heads in the food court downstairs, I hear that despite rumors the ramen actually isn't horrible." Naruto began leading his friend away but stopped when he realized Sasuke had yet to look away from the blood soaked red head on the bed. Nurses bustled and occasionally blocked his view, the moment this would happen Sasuke would instinctively shift to keep watch.

"Hey, the millisecond he is off the table, you come get me." Naruto ordered the nearest ANBU and he nodded and bowed with a solemn yes Hokage-dono.

"Naruto," Sasuke started willingly walking along the blonde Kage and Naruto raised an eyebrow in question," you've changed."

Naruto looked almost startled at Sasuke's quiet statement but he patted the last Uchiha's shoulder fondly as he muttered back,"You too Sasuke. You've changed too."

Sasuke hated leaving Gaara's side, but he didn't have much say. So far he hadn't done much good for his lover, he left and Gaara damn near gets killed. _Again._That marks time number 2 that Sasuke had left the Kage's side and Gaara had been the one to suffer dearly for it. Temari would beat the crap out of him for his thoughts, but suddenly he was wondering if Neji would have to fake him running away.

Sasuke shook his thoughts away. He said, damnit he promised Gaara that he wouldn't do that to him. His pride wouldn't let him break his word because sometimes your word is all you have.

The two old friends got ramen and sat down eating in silence. It took about 10 minutes for Naruto to break the silence."Teme, why are you here?"

Sasuke didn't answer, instead his onyx eyes seemed to narrow slightly at the innocent bowel of ramen.

"Sasuke. You can't blame yourself." Naruto murmured in a moment of insight. His friend was being abnormally quiet and Naruto recognized it as deep in thought. By the subtle guilt playing off his features Naruto guessed that Sasuke wasn't impressed with himself. Sasuke only further confirmed this assumption by giving Naruto a curiously blank look.

"Gaara wouldn't blame you I'm sure of it, and it'll be your job to convince him to knock off the pessimistic behaviour he'll start." Naruto shrugged then paused when an ANBU appeared by the table.

"Sir, Kazekage-dono is causing a riot and the nurses are yelling for Sasuke."

Sasuke was gone.

Lit rally. He had stood and disappeared, moving faster then Naruto had ever seen him do.

"Sasuke finally. Calm him down!" Ginso was beside him fastest and shoving him towards the room. Sasuke dashed through the door and to Gaara's bedside. The redhead had curled in on himself and his sand was lashing out at everybody in range. Thus including Sasuke. The sand latched on around his wrist and Sasuke felt the bone-shattering pressure begin being piled on.

"Gaara, Gaara it's me cool off." He forced his entrapped hand to move and cautiously he tilted Gaara's face. His wrist was broken, he could feel that but a healer could handle it.

Gaara looked wrong. His eyes were wide and freaked out. He'd never allow himself to be this afraid, or at least he wouldn't show it. Once recognition dawned on the Kage the sand fell away and the red head latched onto him.

"'Suke, Sierra was here." He whispered and very suddenly everything made sense. Sierra was violent, a better taijutsu user then Gaara. If Gaara was disarmed - like he was - weakened - like he was - then Sierra could very easily take the Kage on and win. Like she had. Sasue had seen Laili's corpse and jumped to assumption she tried to kill him again while completely overruling the idea of anyone doing this.

Sasuke couldn't muster up the calm to speak, so instead he simply snarled quietly and wrapped his arms around the now-healed waist pressed against him. Shifting slightly he sat down on the bed and let Gaara lean on him. Drawing on his strength just like he had been doing to Naruto not 10 minutes ago.

"Is everything alright?" Naruto appeared in the doorway and Gaara tensed beyond belief. Sasuke knew the look though, Gaara was jumping to hide his emotions and flying into his 'Kage mode'.

"Everything is fine." And very subtly he was stepping in front of Sasuke and hiding him with his body. "Nothing to worry about Naruto."

"Don't bother hiding him. I just had lunch with Sasuke." Naruto shrugged and Gaara went on the defensive.

"Sasuke?" Gaara called softly and the raven turned. "I need to talk to Naruto, privately please."

Sasuke nodded and walked out, leaning against the wall by the door and doing his best to ignore the conversation taking place in the small white hospital room. Two Kages in one room, technically they shouldn't be alone with the huge threat looming over Gaara's head, but he doubted that either of them cared.

"Sasuke?" Both Kages called and Sasuke sighed and went in.

"What's up?"

"You're not going to jail," Gaara smiled.

"Not yet anyway."

Sasuke would've smiled but he had to wonder; what did Gaara just do to save him?

"Okay, I'm glad. What are we going to do about Sierra?"

Naruto and Gaara both smirked.

"Kill the bitch."


	6. The Uchiha Manuever

"Kill the bitch?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. As fabulous as the idea sounded, how the hell were they going to get her to go into a room with them? Sierra was evil, not dumb. That isn't to say though that he wouldn't be the first one to stab her.

"Yes." Both Kages nodded seriously. Gaara continued, "She hates me with such passion that she'll come after me again. All I need is to set the scene for it." Gaara rubbed his eyes, and Sasuke could see the fatigue nagging at his red head. "And you are going to be the key to doing so."

"Oh of course, because that's going to be incredibly easy to do."

"It will actually."

"I'm inclined to disagree. She's not retarded. Walking into a room with not one but _two _Kages who want your head on a stick, that's stupid. Not only that but why the fuck would she trust me. Sasuke Uchiha! I'm the poster boy for distrust and most people know that! She won't trust Naruto because he's Hokage and she definitely won't trust you - you're you!"

Gaara was giving him that bored face that he usually gave to annoying council men.

"Don't give me that look when you know it's true. Naruto help me out here he's being a fool." Sasuke prayed the blond would come to his aid. Gaara couldn't possibly be thinking straight or he'd see just how reckless this move was. The raven was damn near panicked, he wasn't quite sure he could handle Gaara getting hurt again. Every time it did, it seemed to hurt far worse than any torture the last Uchiha had ever, would ever, receive.

"Sasuke-"

"Oh god."

"-he's right. This needs to be handled now. Sierra cannot be allowed to run rampant if she is this much of a threat to Gaara's health. She's tried to kill him twice-"

"Once. Laili tried to kill him - us - the first time."

"Sasuke." Naruto's tone turned warning, he obviously didn't appreciate Sasuke's interjections. Sasuke groaned and sat down on the bed with Gaara.

"Fine! What the hell is the plan?" Sasuke growled. He hated this, it put Gaara to close to the line of fire for Sasuke's tastes, but his opinion didn't mean much right now. As much as that pissed him off.

"Okay. First off...."

30 minutes later Sasuke couldn't quite believe what they were doing - what he was doing. Willingly. He opened the door to Gaara's new office and let the Kazekage walk in ahead of him.

"Gaara," the red head turned, "Please. Be careful. You need to be okay, promise me?"

The Kazekage smiled warmly and Sasuke drank in the sight. He wasn't quite sure that he'd ever be treated to it again. Gaara's pale hand caressed his cheek and the red head kissed him slowly. Sasuke took in everything and committed it to memory.

"I'll be okay. I'll see you later." No one should sound that confident when they're facing a life or death situation. Sasuke smiled softly and ran a hand through Gaara's crimson locks.

Then he turned and walked out leaving Gaara Sabaku, his lover, to the mercy of his crazy ex-fiancée. He'd be okay though. Sasuke had left a clone in with him, it split his chakra but it wasn't too much of a hindrance. Half his chakra was still thrice most people's 100%. Surely he could handle it.

_Gaara has bad taste in women. _He thought bitterly. _He has bad taste in plans too. _

The plan was this; Gaara would be in his office totally alone. Sierra wasn't so insane she'd attack immediately they hoped. Gaara would bide his time, build his chakra up and finally when Sierra struck all he had to do was capture her and kill her. Sasuke would get rid of the body, the desert hid many things. Including death. But Sasuke didn't trust it. The plan sounded too easy and he was certain that Sierra wouldn't strike at Gaara because of the clear threat towards her life.

Sasuke strolled down side streets as his thoughts enveloped him, he knew the way to his apartment so well that thought wasn't really required. Suna was set up like a kingdom. The Kage building at the center - the castle - and everything else branched out. He just had to follow the alleys.

Hell, Sasuke was 90% certain that Sierra Komo would be paying a visit to his apartment. So that's exactly where he was going. Naruto and Gaara were Kages, sure. They were good at making political problems go away. Political.

Sasuke was an ex-Akatsuki trained assassin. Getting rid of problem _people _was his area of expertise. Sierra Komo was dying tonight, that was for sure, but it wouldn't be by Gaara's hand nor Naruto's. Sasuke had every intention of being the man to murder his lover's ex. Shouldn't be too too hard. The question however was whether or not Sasuke would survive.

When he arrived at his place he cranked the volume on a stereo and put in the first CD he found. The music started blaring and Sasuke sat down to wait.

One hour.

Two hours. Sasuke stood and put his plan into motion, sliding his hand under the table and pressing upward against it. Ready. He sat back down and closed his eyes to focus only on vibrations.

Three.

Finally. He could feel the vibrations of someone in his bedroom. The only way into the apartment he couldn't see from his position. He kept himself completely stationary and merely put up a hand to prevent Sierra's blade from touching his neck.

"Sierra."

"Sasuke." She purred into his ear and he rose to his feet at the urging of her blade knocking against his chin. The feeling of total calm, total control. Every nerve ending in his body alight with the excitement of finally being put to the test again. That was a comforting, familar feeling. Totally unlike the nervous butterflies in his stomach at the idea that his own plan might kill him.

He turned to face her and she brought her knife down to rest on his belt, perfectly angled to jab right into his stomach if he moved wrong.

"Do you want a drink?" He offered and she nodded.

"Something strong." They walked to the kitchen and Sasuke ignored the chill of metal that was seeping through his shirt onto his back. He tongued the folding blade on the roof of his mouth. Essentially a razor blade that he could hide. At the bare minimum he was armed to the teeth. In the event that his plan failed, he could fight. "Ice no ice?"

"Ice." She sat on the counter and kept her blade level while she watched him make her drink. If it weren't for the knife Sasuke could almost call this a normal situation. Eerie.

He passed her her drink and they both took parallel seats at his dining room table. He glanced at the time and took a sip of his drink.

09:13:17

Sasuke smiled grudgingly. This had to end today. Sierra wouldn't have sent a clone, she was a good shinobi but Sasuke could feel a clone and she knew it. She wouldn't waste the energy.

"Sasuke, you know I'm only doing this because I love you right?" She smiled at him and sipped the vodka he'd poured her. "I mean you need my help. He had me under his spell once too however luckily I was set free. In return for my freedom thought, you got caged in." She paused and took another sip. "A man like you should never be caged, caging a tiger only makes it mad. You should be in charge of your own life. You know all this right?"

"I know. I've been told. Gaara thinks your doing this because you hate him, but I know you love me." Sasuke refused to gag on his own lies. He needed her to believe him. His plan was dangerous, but damn it, it would work. As long as she believed him for this moment.

"He's evil Sasuke, surely you of all people can tell." She met his gaze and Sasuke finally realized just how evil Sierra was. She sounded so sincere, seemed so genuine, but Sasuke knew the look of true evil. It was in their eyes. He saw it every day whenever he looked at his reflection. Gaara didn't have that look, he really had changed from who he used to be. She stood and leaned over him.

_Perfect._

"I can tell evil when it's there. You are evil, Shukaku was evil," he paused and glanced into a mirror he kept hanging on a wall just outside the dining room," I'm evil. That's why this has to stop."

He reached under the table and grabbed a exploding tag. He slapped it to her chest, infused a bit of chakra to ignite it and a bit more to singe it to her flesh and then focused the rest of his chakra into trying to protect himself. She began slicing at him with her knife as the fire burned and Sasuke couldn't even feel it.

Gaara had set up a mental connection with him using Sasuke's chakra. Sasuke wondered if perhaps he could 'speak' with Gaara via said connection. He focused and thought three words. He kept his eyes on his reflection and tried to picture the last time he had looked into that mirror.

_Gaara had been leaning his head on my shoulder. 3 days before the fire. We were so happy. I wonder if I'll ever see that smile of his again._

The world exploded into white and Sasuke's vision faded down to black. The warmth of blood was so different to the chill of his skin.

_I doubt it. _


	7. When The Flames Die Down

**A/N: **This is it! Last chapter my friends! I'm so glad, I had been considering putting this back on hiatus, but a man I met provided me with a sudden inspiration and I started writing and haven't stopped. My IPod is full of notes on different oneshots I want to do, different stories I want to start, scenes from stories I'm working on.

Finishing _The Flames Of Memory _feels like such an accomplishment that it brings a smile to my face. I don't quite know why though... but I don't care. I'll sit and listen to some Three Days Grace ( their new CD ) and just write.

Without further ado,

* * *

_I love you_

Gaara jolted. The thoughts were clear as day, but they weren't his. The Kazekage frowned, how can the thoughts in his head not be his. It was his head!

Then the explosion.

Gaara's heart stopped. Then he exploded into action, yelling for every ANBU that came to mind and dissolving, reappearing at the building and lifting enough sand to try and put out the fire. Sand didn't burn.

"Go inside, teams of three at minimum and grab as many people as you can do it now! Any 3 ANBU with excellent water ninjutsu start helping me!" He barked his orders and his shinobi flew to obey.

This is Sasuke's apartment. He realized with a stab. Sasuke's place was engulfed in flames. His ANBU were appearing at a rapid pace, toting as many people as could cling onto them.

"It's not going out, alright c'mon let's get some people out." He told the three ANBU pumping water from their mouths. They began accompanying the others in.

"Can anybody hear me?" He called and heard a quiet reply. Immediately he rounded on his heels with a yell of, "Keep talking to me!"

"I'm-!" Then coughing and a muffled shout of pain. "Here! Over Here!" A new voice exlaimed and Gaara kicked in a door to reach it. Two kids, one girl no more then 7 and a male teen of about 17. Her arm was alight with flames. Gaara reached out and called sand to him wrapping her arm in the grains to smother the flames.

He grabbed onto both of them and looked around. "Are you two alone in here?"

"No, our mom." They both pointed to the bedroom and Gaara nodded, passing them off to an ANBU to be taken out. He ran towards the bedroom thanking god that his scrubs were not catching fire themselves. The last thing he needed was more burns, he was sure the nurses would ban him from ever going near the substance.

The children's mother was unconscious on the floor when Gaara dove onto her to grab her. He managed to dissolve just as a support beam down, narrowly missing the two.

"Sasuke." He whispered when he realized his lover wasn't among the rescued. "Has anybody gotten Sasuke Uchiha out?!" He barked and everyone shook their heads.

"But sir, it's too hot in there. The building is going to come down." An ANBU tried to explain.

"I kept a bigger building up when I was half-conscious before. I'll keep it up." He slammed one hand onto the building, realizing just how lucky he was he'd been storing chakra. The fifth Kazekage doubted he could do this under any other circumstances. The building began glowing a subtle blue and Gaara jumped up to Sasuke's balcony.

"Sir be careful!" An ANBU yelled and Gaara went into the apartment. A CD's music was trailing off as the stereo was covered in crimson. The beautiful voice trailing down to a wail before dying completely.

"Sasuke?" He screamed.

"Goddamn you, die!" His voice. Gaara froze for a millisecond. Sasuke was alive. The thought was air now. If Sasuke died, Gaara was sure he'd stop breathing.

"No!" Sierra's voice.

"Stay away from him!" He ran towards the kitchen, the location of the voices. Sasuke was cut up and bleeding, the liquid pouring off his left arm. Sierra looked about the same, only it was her right arm that was hacked up. The cuts looked small though. Not a kunai, almost like a razor. Like the razor blade Sasuke kept on the roof of his mouth.

Once upon a time the red head might have called Sierra beautiful, but now it looked like a train had ran over her face. Her cheek wasn't skin-covered anymore. just muscle and blood. He could see a few of her ribs in the glow of the fire. She must have been very close to the explosion. Dimly Gaara wondered if that was at all what he looked like after the burns reached his face. He hoped not.

"Sasuke!" He jerked the Uchiha to the side just in time to avoid a kunai to the gut. He snatched up a knife from Sasuke's chopping block and raised it in time to block a kunai to his head.

"Gaara?" The last Uchiha sounded almost confused. Gaara started slashing to defend, keeping Sierra at bay, she was watching their every move like a hawk. If a hawk could have that crazed, obsessed delusional look to it.

"How much do you trust me?" The fifth asked as he ducked and slid to avoid Sierra's wildly waving kunai.

"Too much." The ash-covered raven yelped as the kunai collided with the flesh of his side. Gaara grabbed his wrist and starting running towards the bedroom. Sierra gave chase and Gaara rounded, kicking her in the gut and gasping when she grabbed onto his leg. Her nails dug into his skin and Gaara tripped. Sasuke made it to the window and opened it before turning and realizing Gaara was wrestling his ex.

_Sasuke was going to be okay. _Gaara didn't understand how, the last Uchiha should have been buried in flames, died by smoke inhalation, blood loss. Any number of things should have killed him by now but he was still breathing, still had a pulse. He couldn't risk that changing, Sasuke had to survive.

"Get out of the building and tell my ANBU to dig." He used some of his sand to shove his lover out a window. He heard Sasuke yell, managed to get Sierra back a bit and took a breath.

Then he collapsed the building on top of him and Sierra.

For a moment Gaara couldn't quite believe what he'd done. The day had suddenly disappeared and all that Gaara was left with was darkness. He'd been dead before, it wasn't too terrifying he supposed. Not something that haunted him in his nightmares. Everything had been so peaceful for a long time, and when the lights finally went out it had been a relief. Right now it wasn't a relief. For once in his life Gaara had everything going for him, he wasn't ready to die.

His lover was a good man. Someone he could trust with his heart and someone who could defend both himself and the people around him. A good, caring, brave, sacrificing man. Gaara wasn't ready to lose him yet.

His people trusted him. Everyone who wore the Suna headband, every villager and farmer heard his name and a smile lit up his face at the knowledge that now instead of flinching at his name. They smiled. They smiled and said that he was their Kage.

Everything was going right for once in his life and now the past haunts him with his mistakes. Sierra Komo, the woman he left for Sasuke, was hellbent on destroying him. But she was dead, she had to be. He only survived because at the last second he kicked out and sent her backwards, buried himself in sand. About a foot of space, it was like a coffin. As horrifying as that was, being buried alive wasn't the least of his problems.

He had to keep his breathing level and his heart rate down. He couldn't panic. He had used up the last of his chakra making his sand hard enough to stay in place regardless of the building on top of it. Now all he could do was wait. Wait and wonder.

_I never thought anything along the lines of 'I love you.' Meaning that wasn't me. There's only one people who could get into my head, potentially. Meaning that was Sasuke. _

Gaara focused, hoping that he could do the same thing Sasuke had already managed to.

_Sasuke? Can you hear me?_

It was a lot like radio silence, with no static and not even his thoughts to disturb it.

_'G-Gaara? Is that you?' _The thought was tentative, but it was there. Gaara almost gasped with relief.

_Yes, yes it's me. Are you alright, god tell me you're okay._

_'I'm okay, I'm okay.' _

_I love you. I love you so much, I'm not quite sure if you'll ever actually hear me say it though. Are you guys digging?_

_'Yes, we've all rolled up our sleeves and are digging. I'm covered in dirt and blood.'_

Gaara chuckled. Leave it to Sasuke to somehow remind him that the last Uchiha hated getting dirty. Not to say he wouldn't get his hands dirty, he simply hated actual dirt on him. Now dirt plus blood. Oh he hates that.

Gaara shut his eyes and sent one last thought. _I don't know how much air I have in here, so try and dig a bit quicker. I would help but I don't have enough chakra._

Sasuke started digging faster.

It took 6 hours for everyone to get down to the level where Gaara would be buried. On their way, they encountered Sierra's corpse.

"Someone give me a katana." Sasuke held out hand and when the blade touched his head he brought it down to hack off Sierra's head. "No way is that bitch coming back." He threw the head to an ANBU and said ANBU roasted it with a fire jutsu. Sierra Komo was dead, gone and never coming back.

Sasuke finished hauling off a section of the rooftop with the help of an ANBU and everybody raised one eyebrow at the 7X4 sand coffin they encounter. Sasuke bent and touched it gingerly with the tips of his fingers and smiled. The sand was all but pulsating with chakra.

_'Gaara? We're staring at sand.'_

Relief buried itself deep in the pit of Sasuke's stomach when the sand fell away and Gaara's azure eyes opened. The ANBU grabbed onto the red head and hauled him out of the hole. Gaara took a deep breath and Sasuke scowled. The man woke up from a coma, got attacked by his ex and now he was finally okay and the red head somehow looked better then he did.

"Let me go, please." He coughed afterwards but his orders were clear. The ANBU took a step back and Gaara reached out and gripped Sasuke's shirt with both hands.

"I. Love. You." Sasuke's boyfriend took a breath. "Don't ever doubt it."

"I have a couple questions however." Naruto Uzumaki's voice interrupted them and Gaara groaned.

"If I go to prison I don't care. If I die I don't care. If I lose you, I'll kill myself." Gaara murmured and leaned against the man who'd been guarding him for so long. "So run. Run for it, I'll keep them busy and if everything goes to plan, I'll let you know." He spoke directly against Sasuke's skin to prevent Naruto from hearing. Sasuke nodded once then jumped backwards and disappeared.

Gaara turned and stared at Naruto. "Our bargain? You will honor it?"

"As long as you have an excellent explanation for this, I will." Naruto smiled and Gaara nodded. No matter how good friends the two of them were, at the end of the day they were Kages and that overrode friendship.

"Then we need to talk." The duo walked away, quickly disappearing from the sight of the ANBU as they spoke. Sasuke got the call to come back to Gaara's office hours later. When he arrived Gaara was in the middle of a signature. The red head finished and passed the document off to Naruto. The blond smiled and clapped Sasuke's shoulder as he walked out.

"It appears as though I have permanent blind eyes for you Sasuke Uchiha." The blond smiled and walked out.

"Gaara?" Sasuke frowned. What the hell just happened? He wasn't being hauled off to prison, that in itself was a puzzling statement of fact. The red head stood up and hugged him.

"Sasuke, let's go home." Gaara sighed and Sasuke nodded, dissolving to a hotel he'd set up in the time he had to be away. Not long, but checking into a hotel took 5 minutes. They re-appeared on the bed and Sasuke chuckled as Gaara snuggled up to his side. "You are expressly forbidden to enter the Land of Fire and you better not break a single law or you are in Naruto's hands. I won't be able to protect you."

"I understand."

"Naruto and I have reached an accord, you were his friend and a damn good shinobi. He doesn't want to see you behind bars and he knows it would hurt me and ultimately hurt him. Suna and Konoha seem to be irrevocably tied to you. However, in return for keeping you. Every once in a while if Naruto has a job he needs you for, you don't object you just do it. Oh and by the way you are trapped here, I hope you don't mind. I need to sleep and so do you, so you're not allowed leaving." Gaara smiled and shifted closer. Sasuke smiled and leaned down to murmur in Gaara's ear.

"I love you, I'm not going anywhere."

The Kazekage leaned up and pressed a kiss to Sasuke's lips before falling asleep. Sasuke smiled, he didn't care if he was covered in dirt, Gaara was going to be okay. He was going to get to stay in Suna! Sasuke shut his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to care that those missions Naruto would call him for would be the hardest ones around.

_He was going to get to stay with Gaara Sabaku._

Sasuke Uchiha shut his eyes on that glee-inspiring thought and fell asleep with his forehead pressed to his lovers.


End file.
